First Strike
by Spartan-IV
Summary: Aang once thought that facing the Firelord was bad, but someone else has revealed themselves. The greatest threat that Team Avatar has ever faced. Tactics, strategy, and covert warfare are his weapons. He is the pinnacle of command and the symbol of power
1. A Plan Unfolds

Aang looked around the cavern and for the first time since coming to Ba Sing Se to rescure Katara he felt nothing but despair. Dai Li Agents were swarming to Azula's aide and Aang knew he would never be able to defeat them all by himself, he saw Katara taking on a group of Dai Li agents. He remembered what the Guru told him, _"Only by letting go of your earthly attachments can you hope to master the Avatar State." _

"I'm sorry Katara" he said softly. Enclosing himself in a tent made of crystals he sat down to unblock his seventh chukra. He felt the familiar sensation of ultimate power course through him as he entered the Avatar State. But this time it was different. Aang knew what was happening this time just as he was about to attack the Dai Li he realized that he had made a tactical error, Azula was flanking him. A bolt of lightning struck him dead centre in his back, causing his heart to overload from the voltage. The last thing Aang knew was that he was falling down and down until he surrendered himself to the darkness….

Aang opened his eyes to feel the familiar sensation of bison fur against his skin and the pleasant sight of Katara as she gazed down at him just like she had the day he'd been free of the iceberg. Aang gave a weak smile before she wrapped her arms around him, it wasn't long until Aang once again blacked out…

Aang glanced around to take in his surroundings, he could see Ba Sing Se, and the fire nation troops as they marched toward the central city plaza. A fire nation commander shouted in the streets, "Attention! This City is now under the control of the Fire Nation, you will submit to the will of the Firelord!" His troops gave an ear-peircing war cry as the once impregnable stronghold had fallen….

The curved stone archway looked familiar to Aang as he walked on. He came to the sanctuary door of the Southern Air Temple that he knew contained statues of all the previous Avatars. Using his airbending he opened the door and stepped inside, only to find that the room was deserted…

Aang felt as if he were falling into an abyss, he could see the familiar glowing eyes of the previous Avatars and Roku's voice as he said, _"If you are killed in the Avatar State, the reincarnation cycle will be broken and the Avatar will cease to exist."_ Abruptly the Avatar statues started to crack until they were nothing more than finely powdered stone. Aang felt as if something terrible had happened but he couldn't remember what. "NO!" Aang screamed in frustration and helpless anger, Avatar Roku appeared to him then. As if materializing out of the shadows, his figure spoke to him, "You have just been through a terrible ordeal Aang, The attack on you in the Avatar State has permanently disrupted your connection to cosmic energy, you will not be able to enter the Avatar State."

"What attack," Aang protested, "I don't understand."

"I can't fully explain it to you," Roku declared "I have a limited amount of time, your body is still recovering and your spirit is weak. Remember, your original task still remains, you must master the four elements. Only then will you be strong enough." Roku disappeared as quickly as he had come leaving his last two words echoing in his place.

The dark background transformed into an attack on the fire nation. Aang could see Sokka as he engaged a group of fire benders, sword drawn he shouted a war cry before he charged. Fireblasts met him halfway but Sokka dodged them, he lifted his sword to strike at the nearest fire bender, his sword pierced through the bender's armour and the bender fell to the floor. Sokka's raised his sword again but a fireblast caught him in the face before he could strike. Sokka fell to the ground with a scream of agony, his sword clattered on the stone tiles. A firebender stepped forward and ended his life. Toph screamed in defiance as she brought rocks to crash down on Sokka's attackers. In doing so, however, she left her flank unprotected and a firebender quickly sealed her fate. Toph fell to the ground as a charred corpse.

Aang couldn't believe it. He didn't know if this was real or not, but it was a nightmare unlike any he had ever experienced. Aang looked around at the battlefield, the fight for the palace had been brutal but with fire nation defences so well defended the outcome was never in any doubt. Aang could see water tribe warriors making a last stand against a group of fire benders They interlocked their shields and threw their spears and though they caused some casualties it was not enough for them to be able to retreat. Fire nation soldiers surrounded them and let out a final attack…

With a start, Aang awoke for what seemed like the fifth time. He felt lightheaded and as he tried to get out of bed, pain lanced across his left side. He grimaced from the intensity, his vision started to clear and he could finally make sense of his location.

What he saw made adrenaline pump through his body, fire nation symbols were carved on several items and he looked behind him to discover the fire nation emblem on a huge tapestry. Aang couldn't remember how he got here but it was clear that he had to get out, grabbing his staff he exited his room and proceeded down the ship's corridor. Stumbling every now and then as pain shot through his body. It took all of Aang's concentration just to walk down the hallway, he was close to the end when he heard voices. Aang knew that there would be no way for him to walk any further without being seen. He quickly pulled out his staff and sent an air attack in their midst. But he was still too weak from his injuries and his resulting attack didn't even knock them off their feet.

Memories of running through Zuko's ship came down to him but he wasn't about to repeat his mistakes from the past. Aang scrambled up the steps to the main deck, but in his haste to check if he was being pursued he tripped on the last step and crashed to the deck, his staff sliding away from him. "Momo?" Aang asked in complete disbelief. The lemur chirped in response and jumped on Aang's face. "Twinkletoes! That's gotta be you." Toph said as she ran towards him. "Aang, you're awake!" Katara shouted at him.

"Are you sure, it feels like I'm dreaming." Aang inhaled sharply as Katara wrapped her arms around him. As soon as she let go Aang felt himself go weak, as if all the strength had left his body. A few seconds later he collapsed and everything went dark.

Aang lay awake in his quarters aboard the fire nation battleship. After Katara had given him his healing session he had clearly remembered getting struck down by Azula. After that all he could think about was how close he had come to letting the fire nation win this war, not only would he have died but, just as Roku had told him, there would have been no more Avatars. Aang felt as if he had dishonoured the meaning of the word Avatar. He was glad that he could no longer enter the Avatar State, he never wanted to make such a failure again. _I promise_ he told himself silently, _I won't fail again_.

Vice Admiral Xylan paced on the bridge of the Supercarrier _Leviathan, _the pride of the Fire Navy. The_ Leviathan's_ hull was honeycombed with iron armour, the ship could take a tremendous amount of punishment before even having to worry about sinking, and the ship's armaments could overwhelm any ship that sailed the seas.

Xylan smiled, he had served directly under Admiral Zhou during his siege of the Northern Water Tribe. He had used the Admiral's defeat to his advantage, like a springboard that had given him command of the Northern Fleet. Xylan had turned the battlegroup of 50 battleships that was looked upon as the disgrace of the Fire Navy into an elite group composing of 450 battleships now known as "Xylan's Storm." All it had taken was countless raids on the sparsely populated Water tribe colonies and the defeat of the Earth Kingdom Navy at the hands of Xylan's Storm.

Firelord Ozai had declared that the Avatar had been defeated and was claiming that victory would be theirs with the arrival of Sozin's Comet. Unlike his former mentor, Xylan was not so arrogant as to underestimate the power of his enemies, something many fire nation commanders still had to learn.

Xylan had studied accounts of the Avatar's power, both of recent accounts and in the Avatar's past lives. If anything, it had given him an insight into his enemies abilities, Xylan didn't believe that the Avatar could be so easily killed. All that the reports from the homeland would clarify, was that Prince Zuko had struck the Avatar down.

The lack of information on what happened after Zuko struck down the Avatar did not surprise Xylan, propaganda was after all, an efficient method of keeping citizens loyal. Xylan, however, was not so blindly led, he sent word to his spies in Ba Sing Se. They reported that one of the Avatar's friends evacuated him out of the Crystal Catacombs and that they escaped on the Avatar's bison. Reports from other battles where the Avatar's companions had been sited led Xylan to perceive them as resourceful and cunning foes.

Given the fact that they had evaded capture on at least fifteen occasions, Xylan knew that they would find some way to save their companion. Of course he wasn't about to mention all of this to the Firelord, if he was wrong he knew that the Firelord would strip him of his rank and achievements. Xylan wasn't about to tell anyone else under his command either, rumors would be bound to spread until the result would be no different than telling the Firelord directly. No, Xylan would simply employ a different strategy.

"Admiral, what course shall I set?" The Navigation officer asked with an eagerness that made Xylan crack a smile. The man was always eager for battle

"Set course for Ba Sing Se, Lieutenant. We will conduct our patrol as the Firelord has instructed, than we will continue heading NW."

"Yes,sir! Course adjusted to 123 mark 6. " The ship groaned as the heavy bulk of the supercarrier was forced to change direction

"Signal the fleet to split up, Captain Vai is to lead 150 ships on a heading bearing NE."

"Yes, Admiral. Captain Vai has acknowledged the order and is moving NE."

"Commander?" Xylan inquired

"Your command, Admiral?" A low voice came from his side as Commander Jiup stepped forward.

"Send word to the Ossuna. I have an important task for them."

"Right away sir," Jiup replied with his usual display of proper military protocol, one of the reasons why Xylan kept him as his right hand. Xylan would act on his intuition and knowledge, he would capture the Avatar along with his companions; but unlike Xylan's predecessors, his strategies and tactics would not fail to get results.


	2. Confessed Feelings

Aang sat up when he heard the door to his quarters opening, he would have smied were he not in such pain. Katara, Sokka, and Toph stepped in. "Hey Aang, we're going into town to get some dinner."

As if the word dinner were a cue, his stomach growled, reminding him that he hadn't eaten in a couple of days. "I guess I am pretty hungry," Aang replied.

"Here," Sokka called as he pulled out a headband "Use this to cover your arrow."

Aang immediately felt a flash of anger at the immediate suggestion of hiding his markings as an airbender. "I'm not going if I can't wear my arrow proudly." Aang replied as he turned away from them on the bed.

"Aang, c'mon be practical." Sokka replied with a hint of frustration

"You guys go on, we'll catch up to you," Katara said. She waited until the door closed before speaking to Aang again, "I think I know why being a secret bothers you. You don't want anyone to think that you failed."

Aang thought back to his earlier thoughts of how he knew that he had failed as soon as his memories of Azula's attack resurfaced. "You're right," Aang replied softly, "But the problem is that I did fail."

"Don't worry, remember there's still hope. The invasion plan."

"I hate the invasion plan," Aang shouted, tearing off the fire nation tapestry. "I don't want you or anybody else risking your lives to cover up for my mistakes!"

Aang grimaced as another shot of pain lanced up his side, he growled at his weakness. Katara took a few steps closer, "Aang," she said softly, trying to help but wary of his current emotional state.

"Katara, please. Just go." Aang declared with as much finality as he could manage.

Katara looked as though she wanted to press the point then decided against it as she turned to exit the room. She looked back when she reached the door, "Is there anything that you need?"

Aang thought back to his earlier musings, he knew what he had to do. He needed to prove to not only the others, but also himself that he deserved the name Avatar. "I need my honour back," Aang finally replied, "I need to redeem myself."

**After the Invasion**

Aang sighed as the first rays of sun struck his face, since the Western Air Temple was attached to a cliff, the fact that sun rays were finally beginning to peek down meant that it was past midday. Aang tried to relax but he felt anything but calm. Aang knew it wasn't his fault, but the fact remained that the invasion on the Day of Black Sun had failed. It was disgraceful and went against the promise he had made to himself that he would not fail again.

Aang couldn't help but feel that he should have known that the firelord wasn't in his palace and that he should have found his real hiding place. Not just because it was his destiny and there was a limited time remaining but because he was the Avatar. Part of him berated himself for not knowing that the "secret" underground bunker that Toph had uncovered was nothing more than a feint to keep them distracted. But the rational part of him knew that he was being ridiculous.

Aang took a deep breath, he didn't come up here to give in to despair after all. After visiting the Sun Warriors, Aang had delved deep enough into the art of Fire Bending where he felt close to mastering it. He was sure that would be possible with more instruction from Zuko. Taking another deep breath he formed a fist and thrust it downwards to grab the rocky cliff. He formed a boulder out of the rocky surface and formed three holes in it. Taking yet another deep breath he let the boulder fall. With three quick jabs, he sent air threw one of the holes, then water, and then fire. The boulder was still continuing its rapid descent, just before it crushed Aang's skull he slashed down with an open palm cutting the boulder in half and letting the two pieces fall beside him.

Sokka encouraged Aang whenever he could to practice with all four of the elements. His encouragement got so frustrating that the only way Aang could find any time to himself was when he was up at the Temple's lowest point, a point that was only reachable via air bending, or with a flying bison. At least he thought it was, "Katara?" Aang called to the person he could sense behind him "How did you get down here?" Aang turned around to see exactly what he expected, Katara was walking in a stance that suggested she was trying not to disturb him either that or she was sneaking up on him.

"Oh, well I had Toph dig a tunnel down here. You've been by yourself for hours. I was starting to get worried."

"I know, I just wanted to be alone for a while." Aang said

"Oh," Katara replied nervously "I'll just go back up then." She said turning to head back up to the mid-level

"But of course, as you said," Aang called over his shoulder to her, "I've been down here for hours. I think I've been alone long enough."

Katara stopped heading back, "So you don't mind me being here?"

Aang took a deep breath, "No, no it's okay."

"If you're sure." Katara replied clearly not convinced.

Aang knew he had given away part of what he'd been thinking recently. When Roku had showed him his past something had gnawed at him then, but he'd dismissed it as shock after he had found out that Roku was close friends with the former fire lord Sozin. Now he knew what it was, whenever he had seen Roku fighting or traveling far away. He had done it alone, unlike Aang who traveled everywhere with Katara, Sokka, and Toph plus Zuko now that he had joined the group.

At first Aang had dismissed his realization due to his age since he was only twelve, while Roku had been sixteen when he had set out on his journey. But the more Aang thought about it the more he realized that age didn't matter, he was still a twelve year old but he was expected to defeat the strongest person in the Fire Nation. The more he dwelled on it the more he thought it would be better if he travelled solo when the time came to face the Fire Lord.

Aang had made his decision he knew Katara of all people would not be pleased with it but he knew it was the destiny of the Avatar to travel alone, since enemies would always be drawn to him, travelling with others just put innocent people in danger. Katara might think that his decision was a relapse of the mistake he had made on the Fire Nation battleship a few weeks ago. But Aang knew he had been misguided then, though his instincts had undoubtedly been right, he was also prepared for her accusation of Aang being too noble, but he knew that he was just being realistic. Until this conflict was over, he couldn't have the luxury of travelling with others. "Katara, I need to tell you something."

"What is it Aang?"

"Well, we've been travelling together for a while now. In that time we've had our fair share of close calls and near captures. In this war groups of people from the other nations have always stood against the fire lord but they've—" Aang took a deep breath as he forced back some unpleasant memories, "they've always failed. I know why, because only one person is meant to resolve this conflict. But with the vision that Roku shared with me I know that it's my duty as the Avatar t-." Aang almost stopped but he reminded himself that he had already made his decision. "to travel alone."

Aang recoiled as a look of anger flashed in Katara's eyes and he expected an outburst of rage but instead she sighed and whispered, "I thought you were past this Aang."

"Katara, I know I made a mistake a week ago when I left to continue on my own, it wasn't a mistake in the sense that my intentions were wrong. It was a mistake because I was injured and weak."

"So now that we've served your pruposes, you're just going to leave!" Katara shot back at him. Her accusation, though far from true, did send a wave of guilt on Aang.

"Katara, please try to understand. Everytime you travel with me, you're attacked and you're put at risk. I know you want to fight, but I don't want you fighting with me. My destiny to restore balance to the world is too dangerous for anyone else. The Avatars before me never travelled with others for the same reason."

"But the other Avatars were older than you, they were more experienced. You aren't Aang, you need us!" Katara said, slowly saying the last three words as if he were a disobedient child. It was like Aang was arguing with himself all over again.

"I know but what's the difference Katara? The same thing is expected out of me, I've realized that being an Avatar doesn't relate to age at all."

"Do you remember what you said to me during the Fire Nation attack on the Northern Water Tribe? When you said that it was impossible for you to take out all those ships and Yue said that you had to because you were the Avatar, you just said that you were only one kid."

"That's different; I did still defeat them as the Avatar in the end anyway." Aang replied tersely, his own resolve was starting to crack.

"You only defeated them because you were in the Avatar State and you said yourself before the invasion that you couldn't go into the Avatar State anymore." Katara insisted.

Despite the seriousness of the argument, Aang smiled, Katara was always so committed to anything she set her mind to. "I'm doing it to protect you guys, if anything ever happened to you I would never forgive myself. I need to do this."

"I don't understand! Why are you doing this." Katara said with frustration but Aang though he could detect a hint of pleading in her tone as well.

"I'm doing this because its personal, because it's my destiny, I'm doing it because it's the right thing to do. But more than anything I'm doing it to protect you." Aang finally said, his gaze lowering to the floor.

"Why are you doing this to protect me?" Katara asked, Aang looked up to meet her gaze her expression was one of confusion, but whether it was genuine or not, he couldn't tell.

"I'm protecting you because I-I…" Aang trailed off, part of him wanted to tell her why but the other half refused to let out his confession.

"Because you what?" Katara asked, gently trying to get him to tell her.

"Be-because…I just..I lo-…. Aang knew he couldn't keep his feelings contained. With a deep breath he said, "I'm doing this because I- I love you." Aang looked at her, half of him expecting to see a look of shock on her face but instead, Katara eyes almost seemed to sparkle with joy and she lunged forward to plant her lips onto his and embrace him in a searing kiss.. After what seemed like an hour but was probably only a minute or two, Katara pulled away and spoke four words that Aang tried to burn into his memory, she looked at his eyes and said, "I love you too." Aang felt as if his heart would explode with joy, he'd never been so happy in his life than he was at that moment.

"You understand why I'll be going then?" Aang asked one more time.

"Yes." Came Katara's simple reply as she turned to head back up to the mid-level

"Thank you, Katara." Aang whispered to himself as she turned to leave. Aang turned to make his final preparations to face his destiny. With summer almost halfway through, Aang knew there wasn't much time. Aang frowned as he once again had the feeling that he was being watched but Katara was gone and there was no-one else around. Aang redoubled his pace, the sooner he left on his own and his friends were out of danger, the better.

"Admiral Xylan," The Ossuna captain greeted Xylan with a bow before making his report. "Our shadow spies have reported that the Avatar has left the Western Air Temple."

"What was his method of transportation, Captain?" Xylan asked as he gazed out of the _Leviathan's _observation deck.

"Admiral?" The Ossuna replied with confusion.

"There have been two recorded ways that the Avatar will travel. One is by using his flying bison, the other is by using his glider. So I'll ask again Captain." Xylan replied, his voice icy, "What was his method of transportation?"

"He was on his glider, sir." The Ossuna replied, he was normally comfortable in the presence of senior officers but the stories of this man's accomplishments were legendary and he found himself shifting his feet nervously.

"Are you absolutely sure?" Xylan replied, finally turning away from the viewports to look the Ossuna in the eye.

Despite all of his military training, the captain found himself flinching at the Admiral's gaze. "Absolutely sure, Admiral."

"I see…" Xyland trailed off as he if her were planning his next move.

"Do you want the Shadow Spies to engage the Avatar, sir?"

"No, Captain. He's far too dangerous to engage with a handful of Shadow Spies. But if he's travelling by his glider…" Xylan trailed off again, "Have the Shadow Spies seen anyone else at the temple?"

"No, Admiral. Only the Avatar has been seen."

"Very clever." Xyland declared

"Sir?"

"The Avatar either knows the Shadow Spies are there, or is leaving for another reason. Either way, it means his companions are still at the temple."

"Sir?" The Ossuna said, that was a strange conclusion to reach in his opinion.

"Consider captain, why would the Avatar travel by his glider when he has a flying bison at his disposal?"

"Perhaps the bison was injured sir."

"Perhaps, but then why would he leave the bison there all by itself?"

"Then perhaps the beast wasn't injured," The Ossuna replied clearly not understanding the point of this.

"Which brings us back to our original question, why would he abandon his bison? According to reports, the bison has been involved in every encounter Fire Nation troops have had with the Avatar. If he's leaving it behind that means that his companions are either at the temple, or else coming in and out of the temple. Either way, it means that we will be able to set a trap for the Avatar." Xylan turned to one of the guards at the door, "Guard, tell navigation to rendezvous with Captain Vai's fleet at the waterway closest to the Western Air Temple."

"Yes, sir." The guard said before quickly setting off for the bridge to relay the Admiral's orders.

"Admiral, if I may speak?"

"You may, Captain" Xylan granted before turning back to the observation ports.

"Sir, the Western Air Temple is treacherous area. And judging from the reports of the Shadow Spies we will only be able to fill the platforms with so many troops. If the Avatar returns, our troops won't be able to hold their ground."

"Your concerns are noted Captain and I appreciate your strategic insight but you underestimate me. I'm taking command of Captain Vai's forces, but the rest of the fleet will pursue the Avatar. I believe that he is aware of the Shadow Spies and is attempting to deceive us." Xylan replied

"Sir, if I may say I don't believe that the Shadow Spies could possibly have been discovered, we have never failed to remain undetected while doing surveillance."

"That is correct, Captain." Xylan replied as he turned around to face the Captain, "But neither you nor your fellow Ossuna have ever spied on the Avatar. Never underestimate your opponent Captain. Now relay orders that the Ossuna are to break off their surveillance and follow the Avatar. You are dismissed Captain", Xylan said with a wave of his hand.

"As you command, Admiral." The Captain replied with a final bow before he exited the room.

_And then,_ Xylan added silently to himself, _we will see how resourceful the Avatar's companions are._


	3. Ossuna Insertion

Katara sighed as she looked at the painting of the sky bison at the Western Air Temple, Katara had continued to persuade Aang not to leave but he had made up his mind.

Katara had tried one final time by sending Sokka away with Appa just before Aang had left, she had hoped that Aang would reconsider without having Appa. She knew now that Aang had meant what he said, that he wasn't going to put any of his friends in danger, he had fully intended to leave Appa behind. T

he only thing he had taken was his glider. Now he was gone, Katara felt angry, sad, and hurt; the same thing she had felt when her father had left to help the Earth Kingdom. But despite what Aang had said she wasn't going to simply abandon him, especially now that she knew he loved her. She was going to meet him again and they would end this war together. Looking away from the painting she went over to the campsite to retrieve the necessary supplies. Katara planned to head out in the morning.

Xylan studied the terrain of the cliff face next to the Western Air Temple as well as the map the Ossuna had drawn during their surveillance of the Avatar. It was surprisingly accurate for being drawn free hand, Xylan noted that the only way to insert troops onto the platforms would be by fast roping down.

He would have liked to use the newly manufactured Sky Bombers that had been put to great use during the battle at the Royal Palace. But those ships had been permanently assigned to the Home Fleet and not even a Vice Admiral could countermand an order from the Fire Lord.

Xylan continued studying the maps, as he did so several battle plans began to form in his mind. Xylan ran through several options but decided that a stealth mission would work best.

"Captain Vai, send word to the _Leviathan's_ Elite Ossuna. Tell them to proceed with the plan."

"Of course Admiral," Vai saluted before heading to the bridge to relay Xylan's orders.

The Ossuna Commander gripped the edge of the rope and secured it to the pylon close to the edge of the cliff. He glanced at his squad mates, they gave him a slight nod of their heads to indicate that they were ready. Sheathing his sword on the back of his black armour, the commander took a deep breath and fast roped down the cliff to the platforms below, a second later his squad mates followed.

As soon as their feet touched the platform they moved as quickly as they could through the air temple without making a sound, the properties of their amour made it light-weight, making it easy to move quickly without creating any noise. The six Ossuna melted into the shadows and proceeded to the middle of the temple, according to their spy counterparts, the Avatar had spent a lot of time there and if Admiral Xylan was correct that would most likely be where the Avatar's companions were too.

Splitting up into three teams of two they took separate routes to the centre point, looking for any signs that would indicate the presence of others. After a few minutes of searching, the Commander could see a campfire flickering in the distance. Motioning for the others to regroup he silently told them to secure the wooden blocks to their feet. Admiral Xylan believed there was an earthbender in the group and they were taking no chances.

Gesturing with his hands, the commander indicated three entry points to their targets, the others nodded silently and moved to their designated locations. Once they were there the Commander took a moment to take in his surroundings, the three targets were asleep by a campfire and, more importantly, unaware of their presence.

He flashed a command to his squad mates and they attacked. The Commander and his escort went for the earthbender, they quickly moved over to her and flung a net around her before she even knew what was happening. By the time the Commander had finished, his squad mates had relieved the other two of their weapons and equipment and had them in nets as well. "Ossuna, move out. Report back to Admiral Xylan." The Commander barked the order now that stealth was no longer necessary.

"We're on it, sir." One of them replied before they carried the prisoners back to the extraction point.

Aang was about to bring his glider down for the night and rest, but as soon as he flew over a hill he could see hundreds of Fire Nation Battleships in the lake below. Aang breathed a sigh of relief, his instincts had been right. Back at the temple he had felt that he was being watched, the only reason he had left was so that none of the others would have to be in danger anymore. Now that he had accomplished that, all Aang had to do was make the ships follow him and get his friends out of harms way.

Taking a deep breath Aang brought his glider down to the closest battleship and waited for their attack. He didn't have to wait long, three fireballs arced away from the closest battleship's forward catapults and hurtled toward Aang. He easily dodged their ranging shots, for once he was glad that Appa wasn't here. Appa was a great companion but he wasn't as maneuverable as Aang was in his glider. Moving through the sky with ease, Aang landed on the nearest battleship. Firebenders rushed out to meet him but Aang sent a wave of air out to blow them overboard. Using the time he had before reinforcements arrived, Aang sabotaged the three catapults on the bow of the ship.

Aang smiled at the destruction before soaring back into the sky. Something was bothering him but he couldn't pin it down. Then he had it, this fleet must have more ships than Admiral Zhou had at his disposal during his siege of the North Pole, certainly more than enough to take on Aang and yet only a handful of the ships were engaging him. It was almost as if this was… _a distraction_. The thought hit him with such force that he felt so stupid for leaving his friends; they must have been the real target. Gritting his teeth in anger, Aang redirected his glider back toward the temple and glided as fast as he could. He just hoped he wasn't too late.

Vice Admiral Xylan stood on the _Leviathan's _main deck, his red cloak fluttering in the breeze. Xylan wanted to make sure the prisoners were taken exactly to where he wanted them. Fifty of the Admiral's elite were standing in rows on the main deck as the Ossuna carried their prisoner on board. They bowed to Xylan, "We have the prisoners you sent us to capture Admiral."

"Excellent work Commander." Xylan said with extreme satisfaction, the first stage of his plan was complete. "Sergeant," Xylan said to the platoon leader, "Take the earthbender to our special commendations."

"Yes, Admiral." The Sergeant motioned for his troops and twenty-five fell into escorting formation.

"Take this one," Xylan indicated Katara, "to the prison hold." With his command, the rest of the _Leviathan's_ elite troopers escorted Katara to a cell that was on the opposite end of where Toph was being held.

"And take this water tribe warrior to the other prison hold."

The Ossuna dragged Sokka to a prison facility even as he shouted, "What, am I not dangerous enough for a huge escort?!"

As soon as the Ossuna had left Captain Vai ran to Xylan. "Admiral, the rest of the fleet reports that the Avatar engaged their battlegroup."

"Excellent, I presume that Commander Vex gave him a show."

"Yes, sir. The Commander attacked only to drive the Avatar back to the Western Air Temple."

"Good, then we shall wait here until the Avatar returns," Xylan said with a smile, "And we'll have a few surprises for him."


	4. A Battle Begins

Later, Aang could see the Western Air Temple, it had been a five hour trip and Aang anxiously brought his glider down near the campsite, expecting the worst. Aang walked into the Rotunda, he saw evidence of a dying campfire with no-one in sight. Aang's mind-numbing fear turned into rage, his anger grew until he felt it expand into a white hot inferno. Gripping his glider, Aang took off in search for his companions. _And then_, he thought darkly _I'll find who was responsible for this_…

Aang landed down on a plateau overlooking a river below. His search had finally ended, The river was packed with Fire Nation battleships Aang looked for the biggest ship, this type of plan could only come from an Admiral. Spying a large battleship, Aang once again pulled out his glider and sailed toward the ship.

"Admiral, If I may say. Your plan to move the _Leviathan _out of the river is a serious tactical risk. If the Avatar attacks the fleet, the _Leviathan's_ firepower could be what wins the battle for us." Captain Vai protested as he gazed in the distance to where the flagship was safely hidden.

"I agree, Captain," Xylan replied coldly, "The_ Relentless_, however, is more than suitable for a decoy flagship. The firepower may not be as formidable as the _Leviathan's _but if my trap is successful then we won't have to worry. If everyone does their part." Xylan finished his voice chilling a few degrees in his last sentence.

"I understand, Admiral." Vai said, conceding defeat

"Good."

"Sir!" An Ossuna shouted as he entered the bridge in his black armour. Vai flinched at the sight, the Ossuna's body was encased in armour except for his eyes. The resulting effect was intimating, to say the least.

"What news, Commander?" Xylan said as the Ossuna approached.

"The Avatar is on his way to the _Relentlesss_, judging by his current speed, our scouts estimate his arrival in ten minutes."

"That's just enough time. Have our elite benders ready to meet the Avatar, Captain." Xylan said as he turned to face Vai, "And make sure that he is led to the reinforced structural chamber."

"Yes, Admiral but how do you plan on leading the Avatar there." Captain Vai asked in complete confusion, it seemed impossible to him.

"That's easy Captain," Xylan replied with a grim smile, "We'll use bait." Xylan turned to the Ossuna, "Commander, take your squad and escort the water bender somewhere where our guest will be able to spot her."

"Yes, sir. Right away," the commander replied quickly before sprinting off to follow the admiral's command.

Outside on the main deck of the Relentless, elite fire benders were preparing barricades to use as cover. "Get those barricades up!" the platoon's sergeant shouted, "Move it, soldier!"

"Look!" One of the soldiers shouted as he pointed toward the approaching glider.

"Defensive positions!" The sergeant ordered "Prepare to fire!"

The elite acknowledged the command with a shout before getting into their stances. "Hold!" The sergeant commanded, "Hold….FIRE!" Instantly, and in unison, the elite sent a steady stream of fire out from their palms, out to their intended target. Their aim was completely accurate but they had counted on Aang still slowly gliding down.

Instead, he folded up his glider and plummeted down like a rock. The sergeant barley had time to yell for his troops to take cover before Aang sent a powerful air blast down to the deck. All his rage and fear combined with his unprecedented skill went into his air blast and it hit the deck with a thunderous crack, sending the admiral's elite hurtling out of the ship and into the murky water below. Aang wasted no time in grabbing his glider and racing into the heart of the ship, he had to find his friends before it was too late.

Sprinting below, Aang didn't even bother to engage any of the benders he saw, Aang ran so fast that his surroundings whipped past him in a blur. He came to a screeching halt when he saw Katara being escorted into a room by several black armoured soldiers. Katara caught sight of him and yelled to him that it was a trap.

Blinded by his own rage Aang didn't fully register her warning all he wanted to do was destroy the black armoured figures in front of him and save his friends. Aang emitted a wave of air from his staff at the nearest Ossuna, but the soldier avoided it with suprising agility before he took off with his squad, Katara in their grip. Aang wasn't about to lose her, so he dashed after them.

He sprinted as fast as he could possibly go, catching sight of the Ossuna heading into a room. Aang followed, his mind clouded by rage and his every thought screaming for vengance. Five of the six Ossuna troopers were waiting inside a large rectangular shaped room, Aang could see the sixth holding Katara by the exit. Abruptly, the door he just came through slammed shut and the one on the other side opened to let it some fifty fire benders. They quickly circled him and prepared to attack, One of the Ossuna stepped forward and raised his armoured fist. Aang's last conscious thought was that he had failed again, the Ossuna slammed his armoured fist down and Aang fell into darkness…

Some time later, Aang slowly opened his eyes, but he found his vision blurry. Aang squinted and could tell that he was in the same room where he had been rendered unconscious. Aang wasn't surprised to find his arms and legs shackled to the wall, memories of his capture by Zhou resurfaced in his mind.

With a grunt of effort, Aang forced the memories back down, he couldn't afford to be distracted by ghosts from his past. A creak from the other side told Aang that the heavy metal door on the other side of the room was opening, bright light flooded into the room from the other side. The fact that he found himself squinting at the brightness told him that he had been unconscious for a few hours at least. When Aang was able to look back at the doorway he saw someone standing there with a similar uniform as to the one Zhou had worn.

The Admiral approached Aang his boots clicking on the metal floor. "Avatar, I've been waiting for you. Of all the strategies and plans that I have created, your capture was the most challenging."

A look of surprise flashed across Aang's face he had expected the admiral to gloat both about his own power as well as the strength of the Fire Lord. He hadn't expected a compliment on his evasion. A million questions buzzed through his mind but Aang found himself asking the simplest one, "Who are you?"

The admiral gave a small smile, "Of course, we've never met before. I'm Vice Admiral Xylan, I once served under Admiral Zhou."

Aang remembered how Zhou's temper had caused him to burn down his own ships when Aang had taunted him, perhaps Xylan was just as easily baited. Aang was about to taunt the admiral but as if he knew what Aang was thinking he said, "Of course I can assure you that my temper and arrogance do not interfere with my duties. Nor does my desire for glory blind me to underestimate my enemies. In short, I'm far better than the late Admiral Zhou could ever have hoped to aspire too. We'll be arriving at the Fire Nation in a matter of days." With that, Xylan turned and exited the room. As the heavy blast door sealed again Aang gritted his teeth in anger, he had been captured again but this time; no-one was going to be able to save him. For the first time in his life, Aang felt completely hopeless. Knowing that there was nothing to be done at the moment, Aang closed his eyes and tried to sleep, he had a feeling that he would need his strength.


	5. Relived Memories

The next time Aang opened his eyes in the darkened room he felt regenerated. Aang looked around the room more thoroughly this time, looking for anything he could use to set himself free. Not surprisingly there was nothing in the room that Aang could use to his advantage, noting that shackles were fastened to his forearms.

Aang ran through possible solutions to getting free, he knew that Toph could metal bend but she had yet to pass this skill onto Aang. Though she had told Aang that the key was to recognize that metal was just another form of Earth. Bringing his right arm toward his left, he positioned his left hand so that it was pointing at the chain attached to his right arm. Aang concentrated on the metal remembering that the appearance of separated elements was an illusion, Aang flicked his wrist at the chain, intending to snap it in two. But for all his concentration, nothing happened. Aang frowned in frustration but he was not about to give up yet.

Aang slumped to the floor from sheer exhaustion; he had been attempting metal bending for hours without the slightest hint of success. The despair that he had forced to the back of his mind, came crashing down on him after his failure. Aang grimaced from the feeling, he had never felt so hopeless. But an idea seemed to come to Aang right at that point, something that Roku had told him. How the Avatar State was a defence mechanism, he knew that his seventh chukra was now blocked. But Aang believed that he may be able to force it open, by reliving all of his past experiences that had caused him to enter the Avatar State. Closing his eyes, Aang started with his meditation…

Aang remembered the pain he had felt at seeing Monk Gyatso's remains at the Southern Air Temple, and the realization that came with it. The last of the Airbenders.

The thought of all the other air benders wiped out started a spark of anger in Aang.

He remembered the pain and helplessness he had felt when the moon spirit had been slain, the fact that he was supposed to have protected the spirit as the Avatar, and failed.

His spark, grew into a flame.

Aang remembered how he had almost lost Katara at the hands of General Fong, Aang was supposed to have protected her, but he had almost lost her. The sheer thought of losing Katara was beyond painful, it was mind-numbing dread.

His flame, became a roaring fire.

With a flash Aang felt one of his most painful experiences, losing Appa. He recalled how his rage had consumed his mind and how his lust for vengeance had made him attack the sand-benders. Aang remembered how the monks had said that a sky bison was a companion for life, Aang had been crushed with his past thoughts of how he may never see his friend again.

The roaring fire expanded into a white-hot inferno. Aang felt his body shake with rage, as if his inferno of anger was pushing against his blocked chukra. With all of Aang's emotions swirling inside him Aang felt as if a great barrier had been shattered, almost instantly his tattoos and eyes started to glow and he felt as if he could do anything.

Aang applied all that Toph had taught him about metal bending to his senses, with a flick of his wrist Aang snapped the metal shackles holding his arms. With his bonds removed, Aang had only one thought remaining, to destroy this battleship. Concentrating with all his power Aang summoned a huge bubble of air around his body, when Aang's avatar spirit felt that the bubble was strong enough the blast was released, it was powerful enough that it completely tore through the blast door of the chamber. Using air bending as levitation, Aang floated in the direction of the prison hold, his eyes still glowing as strongly as ever with his Avatar Spirit feeding on both past and present feelings of rage and sadness.

"Admiral!" Captain Vai shouted from the back of the bridge, "There's been a containment failure. The structural chamber has been blasted apart!"

Vice Admiral Xylan twirled around from the front of the bridge his eyes narrowing in anger and Captain Vai expected an outburst but instead Xylan calmly ordered, "Send all squads down to reinforce the guard at the prison holds. The Avatar has escaped. Send word to the _Admonitor_, tell Captain Tierce to send a detachment of his Ossuna to apprehend the Avatar."

"Sir?" Captain Vai replied in confusion, not that the order was unclear but the fact that the admiral had spoken so calmly, considering what was at stake.

"You have your orders, Captain." Xylan brought his cold gaze on Vai, "I suggest you carry them out."

"Yes, Admiral." Vai turned to the comm officer and began relaying the admiral's orders.

Katara sat in her reinforced metal cell that Fire Nation guards had placed her in, there was no way out. Katara had tried to employ the same trick she'd used on the wooden cell that she and Toph had been thrown in a while ago. But her cell seemed to have been built specifically to resist against water bending attacks. Katara hadn't even seen Toph or Sokka since she had been split from them on the main deck.

Katara sighed, her memory of Aang's capture still haunted her dreams; she could still remember every detail, even Aang's facial expression when he was chasing after her. She had never seen him look as angry as he had then, Katara wondered what had happened to Aang, judging from the abilities of the guard who had used her as bait, she doubted if Aang had escaped.

Katara was about to go to sleep again when she heard the sounds of grinding, stressed metal accompanied by the sounds of many footsteps outside her cell. Looking through the bars, Katara could see that there were at least 50 fire benders. But instead of positioning themselves toward her, they were turned toward the sound of grinding metal.

Katara was shocked to see Aang materialize out of the darkness from the corridor, not only had he escaped but he was in the Avatar State. Katara didn't want to think about what he had had to go through to trigger his Avatar Spirit. If Aang's expression gave any indication as to what he was planning, it was clear that he was intent on causing as much destruction as possible to soothe his rage.

As soon as the fire benders caught sight of the Avatar they thrusted out their arms, clearly threatening to burn him where he stood. The implied threat seemed to make Aang angrier and he shouted in a voice that boomed with all the previous Avatar's, "Stand aside!" A few of the firebenders flinched at the sound but otherwise they paid it no heed. Without hesitation, the firebenders sent a stream of fire out to their target. Enhanced by the Avatar State, Aang was able to bend the fire and send it right back at its wielders. The ring of fire Aang projected hit all 50 of his attackers, making them writhe in agony as the fire made contact with their armour. The ring of fire blew the firebenders against the wall with such force that they were rendered unconscious, it had also melted Katara's cell door.

Katara glanced up at Aang, torn between the desire to get him out of the Avatar State and the need to rescue Sokka and Toph. Just as Katara was about to say something Aang gave her a command, "Find the others, quickly." Katara recoiled at the anger in his voice, backed by those of the other Avatars but she knew that he was right. Katara sprinted down the hall to the other prison holds, hoping that Sokka and Toph would be in them.


	6. Contingency Plan

Aang, still in the Avatar State, used air bending to move as fast as possible to the main deck of the battleship. From there he let loose all of his rage on Xylan's fleet. Aang positioned himself up in the sky where his Avatar Spirit summoned huge waves of water to thrash the battleships in an attempt to puncture their armour and sink them into the murky river.

"Captain, order all ships closest to the Avatar to pull back. Inform the _Leviathan_ to proceed with my backup plan, and tell the crew to abandon ship." Admiral Xylan ordered from the observation deck of the _Relentless_.

"Evacuate, Admiral?" The order seemed pointless, as far as Captain Vai was aware the Relentless had yet to be damaged to the point where it could be considered of being in danger.

"You heard correctly Captain. Judging by the Avatar's position he intends to sink the entire fleet, since the _Relentless_ is not fast enough to put adequate distance between us. That only leaves one option." With that said Vice Admiral Xylan turned from the observation window and strode towards the main deck, Xylan had been caught off guard by the Avatar's power but he had prepared a contingency plan, just in case.

Katara and Sokka sprinted together down the corridor in their search for Toph. Katara had found Sokka in the prison hold next to hers but Toph wasn't anywhere nearby. Now they were searching the other end of the ship, Sokka thought that whoever was in command might be aware of Toph's ability to metal bend so they were on the look out for a wooden cage. Sokka and Katara proceeded through the winding corridors until they came to the end of another corridor.

Sokka put his back to the wall and glanced at the neighbouring hallway. Spying another squad of Fire Nation guards, Sokka pulled out his sword and without a sound ran to the guards. By the time the they noticed Sokka's charge he was already swinging his sword at one guard's foot. With the first guard tripped up on the ground. Sokka twisted his body and switched his sword to his left hand and brought the blade down onto the guard who had been behind him. Screaming a war-cry Sokka quickly pulled his sword out of the guard's chest and swung it at the helmet of another; cracking his faceplate and knocking him out with such speed that the two guards hit the deck almost simultaneously.

Sokka sheathed his sword as Katara finally got up to him. "What?" He asked at the look of surprise on her face.

Katara looked at him and said, "That…that was amazing!"

Sokka smiled and said, "I'm not considered a warrior for nothing you know. Anyway we've got to get this door open." Sokka started to pull out his sword again but Katara bended out some water from her pouch and whipped the lock, cracking it in half and opening the door. Sokka looked into the slightly darkened room and yelled out Toph's name until he could see her sprawled out inside her wooden cage. Cutting the door down with his razor sharp blade, Sokka glanced at Toph and felt himself cringe inside. He had never seen someone look so hopeless in his life. Knowing that they needed to get out as quickly as possible, Sokka scooped Toph up into his arms and ran with Katara back to the main deck, they didn't have much time.

Vice Admiral Xylan stood on the deck of the _Leviathan_, most of the crew had abandoned the _Relentless_, as per his orders, and were being relocated to the _Leviathan_. The rest of the fleet had pulled back as well and were now formed up in a crescent formation, with the Leviathan in the centre, turning the formation's weakest point into its strongest. Xylan turned to the artillery coordinator standing next to Captain Vai and sharply ordered, "Load the catapults, Lieutenant. Captain, order the rest of the fleet to advance after the first volley."

"Yes, sir!" The coordinator eagerly responded before relaying orders to the arillery crewers to raise the catapults to the main deck.

"As you command Admiral," Vai responded with a smile, the backup plan Xylan had constructed was astounding, not just the plan, but the fact that the admiral had been prepared for anything. Even the Avatar's escape.

Xylan glared at the Avatar as he continued his futile efforts to sink Xylan's fleet. Having immersed himself into studying the Avatar, Xylan was able to recognize the fact that the Avatar had triggered his Avatar Spirit. Not only did this explain how the Avatar escaped the reinforced chamber aboard the Relentless but it also meant that Xylan wouldn't have to worry about recapturing the Avatar. Based on all the scrolls and tomes that Xylan had uncovered about the Avatar he knew that the Avatar could be killed forever while in this state, aptly named the 'Avatar State'. Knowing this made the Avatar's defeat, all the more important. Glancing at the artillery crewers he shouted in a voice that echoed across the river, "Ignite!"

On his command, fire benders light the boulders of all 25 of the Leviathan's catapults on fire. With that as a signal, the rest of the fleet followed suite until the decks of the battleships looked to be on fire with so many catapults at the ready. Xylan continued in his booming voice, "Aim low and prepare to fire……FIRE!" The air in front of the Leviathan seemed to be ablaze with all of the fireballs fired from the catapults as they arced high into the sky before falling down toward their target. The rest of the fleet had fired as well and 625 fireballs plummeted toward the Avatar.

Aang, or rather his Avatar Spirit, could see the fireballs as they raced toward him. Concentrating on evading the shots, Aang created a cocoon of air around his body, the wind was so strong that the majority of the fireballs were blown off course. Just as the last fireball was destroyed, a second volley was already on its way toward Aang.

His Avatar Spirit sent out a shockwave of air in a 360 degree radius from his body that sent many of the fireballs into the river below, but what Aang didn't realize was that Xylan had purposely ordered a time delay in the second volley. So while Aang worked continuously to fend off half off a volley, the other half opened fire. This tactic made sure that Aang had no rest in between each volley, and though it was only the first time the tactic was employed, the effect was immediate.

Aang had been got completely off guard by the admiral's strategy and though he was able to blast the fireball in front of him before it killed him, he couldn't destroy the fragments that acted as shrapnel as they dug themselves into his skin. Aang felt as if he had been stabbed with hot knives, the pain was unbearable and it wasn't long before he found himself slipping out of the Avatar State and falling into the river below, his vision turning into blackness.

Katara gripped the railing of the small Fire Nation patrol boat left behind on the Relentless. She could see that the fleet had opened fire on Aang. Despite the fact that there were enough fireballs to create a small eclipse, Aang was holding his own. He sent the fireballs splashing into the river, crashing into the nearby cliff face, or back at the Fire Nation Battleships. She looked up at Aang and couldn't help but wonder how he had gotten himself into the Avatar State. She felt her heart break at what he must have had to endure, the pain and rage he must be feeling.

With a sigh, Katara mentally pushed her thoughts back, she didn't have time to get distracted. Not if she wanted to help Aang. But even as she focused on their situation she had to admit that there was no way she could be of any use to him, even her master waterbending skills weren't much use against a Fire Nation Battleship. It took a team of waterbenders to summon enough ice to stop a Fire navy ship. All Katara could do was hope that Aang could hold them off long enough for them to get back to Appa and rescue Aang.

Katara noticed the fleet breaking formation to encircle Aang as they continued their ruthless bombardment. Fireballs were launched so often that the air was thick with smoke, creating a light fog that limited visibility. Katara squinted through the mist and could see Aang blast a shockwave of air out from him that redirected fireballs back the way they came, though they weren't close enough to damage the battleships.

A sense of dread gripped Katara as she saw a second volley already following the first and though Aang redirected them, a lone fireball broke through his defences and Katara felt her panic mounting. The Fireball was so close that she feared the worst, but at the last second Aang was able to destroy it. Katara breathed a sigh of relief but it didn't last long. She quickly began to notice that the glow in Aang's body was dissipating. It wasn't long before he began falling down toward the river. "Aang!" Katara screamed, as if her voice would reignite his Avatar Spirit.

But despite all her efforts Aang continued to fall. She felt a warm hand touch on her shoulder, Katara spun around to see Sokka standing beside her. "We've got to go after him!" Katara desperately cried

"I'm sorry Katara but we'd never make it to Aang with those battleships around, let alone back out again." Sokka said, a lone tear slipping from his eye as he could hear Aang's body splash in the river, "We've got to get out of here. We'll come back for him. I promise."

Despite Sokka's comforting tone, Katara felt hot tears streaming down her face. The fact that Aang was down again tore her up inside but the fact that she wasn't able to do anything to help, made her feel a thousand times worse. Katara couldn't help but cry, not just for leaving Aang behind, but because she didn't even know if he was still alive; and that lone thought inflicted more wounds in Katara than an army of Firebenders could provide.

Vice Admiral Xylan cracked a smile from the _Leviathan's_ observation deck. His backup plan had succeeded and the Avatar was once again in his custody. Having learned form his previous mistakes, Xylan would triple the guard around the Avatar's cell, there could be no more mistakes. Turning around, Xylan headed towards the bridge but stopped when he caught sight of Captain Vai approaching. "Yes, Captain?"

"Admiral, the _Admonitor_ is in pursuit of the prisoners but judging from their current position I doubt we'll be able to catch them."

"No matter, Captain. We have what we came for. Signal the fleet to move out and send a message to Commander Vex to regroup en route to the Fire Nation."

"Yes, sir." Capatin Vai saluted before turning on his heels and heading out to the bridge. A minute later Admiral Xylan left the observation deck, confident that total victory would finally be theirs. What Xylan didn't know was that someone had infiltrated the _Leviathan_, their sole purpose was to free the Avatar and play their part in ending this war. The infiltrator sheathed his dual long swords and carefully moved through the ship. The figure was a master of stealth, but even he would need to think hard on how to get past the guards around the Avatar's cell. Melting into the shadows to avoid the passing firebenders, the infiltrator slowly advanced to the Avatar's prison cell and to the greatest prison break anyone has ever attempted...

**NICE ENDING RIGHT? Don't worry there's more comin'**

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	7. Prison Break

Aang opened his eyes, noticing a thick fog in front of him. Just as Aang was about to move and look for anyone. He saw a figure emerge from the fog, as the person got closer Aang could tell that it was Avatar Roku. Aang was about to ask a question but Roku began to speak, "Aang, the desperate technique you used to open your seventh chukra will have severe consequences. Though you are once again able to tap into your Avatar Spirit, you will never be able to master the Avatar State. In you, it will forever remain in its untamed form, manifesting itself only in response to your emotions." 

Aang gaped at Roku's words, memories of his attack on earth benders at General Fong's fortress sprang up in his mind. Aang grimaced at the feeling of losing control and hurting someone. Roku's words also meant something else to Aang, the last thing he remembered was a fireball heading towards him. "You mean I'm not dead?" Aang asked, he had thought his presence in the Spirit World had meant he had been killed.

"No, Aang. You're not dead." Roku said with a small smile. "Unfortunately, you've been captured by the Fire Nation." 

Aang's happiness seemed to vanish in smoke at Roku's statement; he had assumed that Katara had found him. Aang frowned at the thought of never seeing his friends again.

"But there is a bright side," Roku said almost as if he had read Aang's mind, "Someone is coming to get you out, though I don't now for sure who it is."

Aang nodded in understanding though he secretly doubted if this person would be able to bust him out of the Fire Nation's clutches. Even with the Avatar spirit, Aang had barley been able to leave the Fire Nation battleship. Aang was about to ask who the person was but he noticed that Roku had vanished. "Roku! Roku!" Aang cried into the fog, wanting answers to his questions. The fog began to subside and Aang could feel himself returning to consciousness, opening his eyes he noticed that he was once again alone on a Fire Nation battleship, chained and humiliated. Growling in anger Aang pulled on the chains around his wrists as if his anger would give him enough strength to rip the shackles clean off, but to no avail. Slumping to the ground in defeat, Aang waited for his mysterious rescuer to reveal himself and find his way to freedom.

The mysterious infiltrator continued his stealthy walk toward the prison hold, making sure that his black cloak was in the shadows as he slowly walked down the hallway. Once he reached the end of the hallway he pressed his back to the wall and slowly took a glance down the adjoining corridor. Being able to take in everything at a glance he could see that there were around twenty fire benders outside the Avatar's cell. Taking a deep breath to mentally prepare himself the figure drew in a breath and let out a soft whistle. The guards on the other end stirred at the noise and judging by the shadow movement the infiltrator was able to tell that two of them had come to investigate the noise. Noticing there were pipes running along on the ceiling, the infiltrator grabbed the pipes and hung from there as he waited to spring his trap. 

He didn't have to wait long, almost as soon as he was in position two of the fire bending guards came around the corner in a flash, palms extended in a fighting stance. They both relaxed somewhat when they noticed that no-one was in sight. With the need to verify that the area was secure they both began to inch down the corridor, when the last person was directly under the infiltrator, he hooked his legs around the pipes and pushed off from the ceiling, he instantly wrapped his arms around the firebenders throat and began to squeeze.

Though the move had been performed with absolutely no sound, the small gurgles coming from the guard's throat caused his companion to turn around. With superb reflexes and precision, the infiltrator tore off the helmet of the choking guard and hurled it at the other's face. The spiked helmet hit the guard dead centre in the forehead and he fell to the ground, dead. A few seconds later his companion finally ceased his struggles as he was rendered unconscious.

Unhooking his feet from the pipes, the infiltrator quickly dragged the bodies into a dark room. Their companions were bound to be alarmed and if he didn't act quickly he would lose the element of surprise. Expertly moving his hands, the infiltrator replaced his cloak with the armour of one of the guards. Making sure the helmet was completely covering his face, the infiltrator headed back to where his trap had been sprung, to take out another group.

The infiltrator had just barley positioned himself in a fighting stance when six more guards rushed to where he was. With a quick move the infiltrator shot fire from his palm out to the door containing the bodies of the two guards. Looking at the infiltrator, one of the guards asked, "What happened?" 

"There's an intruder onboard. He took out my partner and ran in there." The infiltrator shouted, pointing toward the door he had just firebended at. 

The guard nodded in understanding and motioned for everyone to follow him, encircling the entrance to the door; they took their stances in preparation for attack. One of the guards opened the door and the guards all lowered their stances upon seeing the bodies of two Fire Nation soldiers. The guard sergeant looked at the bodies and said, "What the?" his gaze shifting to the infiltrator. 

Acting with an instinct born of countless training scenarios, the infiltrator struck the sergeant in the face, leaving him knocked out cold on the ground. Just as the others were starting to react, the infiltrator unsheathed his dual long swords and stabbed outward at the two guards to either side of him piercing their armour at the chest. With surprising agility the infiltrator unhooked his swords from the two bodies of the guards and kicked another guard in the face. While the guard was momentarily stunned, the infiltrator quickly grabbed the pipes on the ceiling, hooked his feet around the guard's neck, and performed a flip while jumping down. The end result was that the guard was sent hurtling into the last two in the group. Reacting quickly the infiltrator moved toward the guards and ended their lives with quick stabs from his swords.

Knowing that the element of surprise wouldn't last much longer the infiltrator headed to the Avatar's cell and headed straight toward the other guards at a dead run. One of the guards noticed him but, thinking the infiltrator was on his side, the guard shouted, "Where's the rest of your group?" 

In answer the infiltrator threw one of his swords at the guard, the blade sliced through the air before it connected with the guard's chest. With a cry of both surprise and pain the guard slumped to his knees. Jumping through the air, the infiltrator somersaulted over the dying guard before pulling his sword out of the guard's chest and dropping into a fighting stance as the rest of the fire benders encircled him. 

Before the rest of the guards could even react, the infiltrator grabbed his small knife threw it at a guard. The infiltrator moved his swords so fast, all that could be seen was a blur of motion. In no time, four guards fell to the deck as corpses, the swords having cut through their throats. The remaining seven guards regrouped by the cell door, they cringed in fear at the sight of their fallen comrades but they had sworn an oath to Vice Admiral Xylan and none of them were willing to face the consequences of having backed down from their promise. 

Preparing to make a last stand, the guards fire bended at the intruder, but he swiftly avoided the blast by jumping in the air. In a blur of motion, the infiltrator impaled one of the guards at the neck before slashing another guard across the throat in quick succession. A few stabs and slashes later, it was all over, the infiltrator panted from his efforts before once again drawing his swords to break the lock to the Avatar. 

Aang squinted as bright light flooded the interior of his cell. Though his eyes were almost squeezed shut he could see a figure enter his cell. As his eyes adjusted he could see a Fire Nation soldier standing in the doorway. Breathing in, Aang blew out a gust of wind that hit the soldier square in the chest, blowing him back into the hallway that he just came from. Aang may be captured but he wasn't giving up without a fight. Aang could see a shadow approaching again and took another deep breath to prepare for a confrontation. 

But as the figure reappeared he moved with such agility that Aang could barley track his movements. Before Aang even knew what was happening, the figure drew his dual swords and cut the shackles around Aang's ankles and wrists. Aang turned around to face the soldier in shock and he immediately asked, "Who are you?" 

"I'm insulted you'd even have to ask," the infiltrator replied. Aang was about to ask what the infiltrator was talking about before he removed his helmet. 

Aang let out a small laugh upon seeing the face he still had trouble picturing as friendly, "Zuko?"

Zuko nodded, "Just like old times, right?" He said with a smile.

Aang instantly frowned, knowing that Zuko was referring to Zhou's prison, "Yeah, though I hope the escaping part goes off a little better this time." 

Zuko gave a smile of his own before motioning for Aang to follow, "We'll have a better chance if we don't stand around here talking all day."

Vice Admiral Xylan sat in the command chair on the bridge, mulling over how he could track down the remaining earth benders who were still offering resistance in the Fire Nation colonies. He ran through several possibilities before an old instinct in the back of his mind was triggered, something Xylan had recognized early in his career as a sign of danger. Swivelling his chair to face Captain Vai, Xylan asked, "Have the guards made their hourly report yet?" Xylan asked, referring to his standing order that the Avatar's guards were to report every two hours. 

"Just a second Admiral." Vai responded before checking the previous messages sent to the bridge within the last two hours. Not being able to find anything Vai answered, "It seems their last report was made three hours ago." Captain Vai turned to see the Admiral's angry gaze directed toward nothing in particular. "Perhaps they simply forgot Admiral." Vai said in a tone that made it clear that such a thing was highly unlikely. Everyone on the _Leviathan_ knew the price for defying the Admiral's orders, they were the handpicked naval troops of the Fire Nation, the best of the best; they would never disobey an order no matter how small. 

"No, Captain." Xylan responded in a dark tone. Gritting his teeth in anger he said, "Send out a ship wide alert, the Avatar has escaped." 

As the alarm klaxons could be heard blaring in the ship Captain Vai wondered how the Admiral had reached that conclusion. "Sir, if I may say I don't think-"

"That the Avatar could have escaped on his own." Xylan finished for him. "Neither do I, Captain. I believe he had help."

Vai felt a flash of anger at the Admiral's statement, "You're not suggesting that someone on this ship helped him, sir?" 

"Not someone on the ship, or the rest of the fleet for that matter. No, I believe that one of the Avatar's friends helped. Someone the Ossuna missed during their last insertion, perhaps. But such failure will be dealt with later, for now double the guard at every possible escape route." Xylan briskly ordered.

Vai wondered how an intruder could possibly have sneaked aboard the _Leviathan _without raising some kind of alarm and he cringed at the thought of how Xylan would respond to such failure. Pushing the thought back, the captain concentrated on following the Admiral's orders. In a situation such as this, timing was everything.

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**Isn't Xylan the coolest character you've ever read about? Don't lie!�Anyway If I get some reviews. I'll upload the next chapter. I already have 8 and 9 done but I want to know what everyone thinks first...Quickly now Review! Or if your french, Vite maintenant Revue! If you don't review well...let's just say that HEADS WILL ROLL!**�


	8. Honour Guards

**Thanks for the two reviews. Plus over 250 hits to boot! BOOYEAH!**

**Review Responses:**

**Aryck1095:** **Yes, Ossuna is from Halo: The Flood but I spent a long time thinking of a shadow spy name and I ended up picking the first name I found. Besides its a good name, like TheYu-an archers. Right?**

**Shewasforgotten: Thx, I try.**

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Aang and Zuko had made it down several corridors before they could hear the blazing roar of the _Leviathan's_ alarms. Aang looked at Zuko and said, "Yep, exactly like old times." With that said they turned and ran twice as fast as they had been. 

"I take it you've got a plan to get out of here." Aang shouted to Zuko as they ran through the winding corridors of the _Leviathan_.

"Yeah, my guess is that they're expecting us to steal one of their small patrol boats stored in here. But we're gonna take your glider." Zuko replied back.

"Okay, there's just one little problem. I have no idea where they put my glider. And with only two people searching a ship of this size, a few hours wouldn't make much of a difference." 

"True but since I saw where they put your glider, there's no problem." Zuko replied, "After all I'm not exactly running down random corridors here." The two came to a stop as they could see a group of firebenders clustered around a door at the end of a long corridor. 

"Any ideas?" Aang asked as he ran through strategies for taking out the group.

"You tell me, you're the Avatar after all," Zuko responded.

Aang frowned before an idea came to him, "Alright, I'll take them off their feet with a quick airblast and then you rush forward and take them out." Aang said with his eyes on Zuko's swords.

Zuko gave a small smile, "My thinking exactly."

As Zuko darted forward to the guards. Aang waited three seconds before forming a ball of air and sending in straight at the guards. The concussive force of the blast was enough to knock all eight of the fire benders to their feet. As soon as they were down on the ground, Zuko drew his swords as he leapt in to the air. He guided his swords into stabbing motions, the razor sharp blades piercing the firebender's armour at the chest. Within a few seconds it was all over. 

With a quick swing of his arm, Aang sent a wave of air at the door that the guards had been protecting. The door was torn from its hinges and it opened to reveal a small room, like a small cell. Inside resting against the wall, was Aang's glider. Aang picked up his glider with a frown, having an uneasy feeling about this, but Zuko was the one who put it into words. "You'd have thought that there was a prisoner in here." Zuko said as he glanced at the bodies of the fire benders and back at the small room.

"Probably because there's a Vice Admiral leading this fleet." Aang responded grimly.

"What?" Zuko said softly as he turned to face Aang.

Aang flinched at the sight of Zuko's dialated pupils, "I just said there's a Vice Admiral leading the fleet." He slowly repeated

Zuko swayed in place as he if he were going to pass out from shock. Aang wondered what was worrying him so much, after all this isn't the first time that an admiral had been chasing Aang. Zuko quickly grabbed Aang hand and dragged him with him in a dead run. "We need to get out of here!" Zuko almost shouted.

"Riggghht…" Aang couldn't help but drawl out. "Don't tell me that this just crossed your mind." 

"You don't understand!" Zuko hissed in frustration. "We need to leave, right now."

Aang continued to glance at Zuko in confusion as they ran to the main deck. But he shrugged it off, knowing he'd get an explanation when they left. Following Zuko down the next corridor, they sprinted to freedom. Though the constant blaring of the alarms reminded them that they had a short window of opportunity.

Captain Vai looked at the latest message from the Ossuna search parties scourging the _Leviathan_ for signs of the Avatar. Their latest finding was that the guards who had been assigned to guard the Avatar's glider had been killed. Vai sighed deeply, the Admiral was not going to be pleased. But just when he was going to tell Xylan ,Vai head him say, "Something's wrong, Captain." The way he said it let Captain Vai know that it wasn't a question. 

"Report from the Ossuna search party, Admiral." Vai responded as he turned to see Xylan staring at Vai with his cold gaze. Vai almo st flinched but managed to regain his composure and speak, "It appears that the Avatar has found his glider." 

"I presume you carried out my order and had doubled the guard in the area, Captain." Xylan said his already cold voice chilling a few degrees. Vai found that the Admiral's voice spoke volumes about his malicious nature and Vai half-wished that the Admiral would just shout at him instead.

"Yes, sir. Despite the unlikeness that the Avatar knew of its location I had doubled the guard in the area."

Xylan's gaze softened somewhat and he thought out loud, "It's too late to rally the Ossuna search parties." With that said he turned to the three honour guards at the bridge entrance. "Sergeant, take your squad to the main deck. The Avatar is attempting to escape by using his glider. Delay them until reinforcements can arrive."

Without a word, the Admiral's honour guards darted out of the bridge. The honour guards were a select group of fire benders, chosen to protect the Admiral as long as they lived. Xylan even believed them to be better than the Firelord's Royal Guard. He doubted if they could accomplish the task but with most of the _Leviathan's_ troops spread throughout the ship he was out of options until he could order the entire garrison to the main deck to apprehend the Avatar.

Captain Vai seemed to share the Admiral's musings he looked at the spot where the honour guards had departed and said, "With all due respect Admiral, do you think they can survive an encounter with the Avatar." 

Xylan gave a slight smile that Vai had had the same thoughts. "Under normal circumstances, absolutely." Xylan said but as the thought of the unkown infiltrator entered his mind he continued, "But with this mysterious agent aboard, the outcome is uncertain. Until reinforcements arrive, they'll be in for the fight of their lives."

Finally running up the steps to the main deck, Aang was surprised to see that there was no-one around. Deploying his glider he told Zuko to hold on to the back of it, just as Aang got his footing and was about to take off, a spear knifed through the air to slash across Aang's stomach. Aang let out a grunt of both pain and surprise as he fell to the deck. Aang tried to fight but he was in too much pain to even stand let alone do any bending. Putting a hand to his stomach, Aang's eyes widened in fear as his palm came away covered in blood. 

While Aang struggled to remain conscious, Zuko had already jumped into the air and dispatched one of Xylan's honour guards. The remaining two brought their yellow eyes on Zuko, emanating hatred for the loss of their squadmate. Their hatred fueled their fire bending and they came at Zuko with a storm of fury and vengeance in the form of blazingly hot fireballs. Dodging their attacks, Zuko sheathed his swords as he jumped behind the guards. Thinking that he was letting his guard down, one guard used a quick fire bending sequence; intent on quickly ending this fight and bringing the Avatar back while he still lived. But the guard was surprised to find the fire bending move redirected straight back at him, his surprise would be the last thing he felt as the fire found its target.

The last honour guard continued to bombard Zuko with fire bending attacks, Zuko found himself forced completely on the defensive. Desperate to change back into offense, Zuko attempted to evade the fire blasts long enough to at least send an attack at the guard. But the guard anticipated his movement and quickly transitioned to defence in a movement so natural it looked as if it was second nature to him. As the struggle between the two continued, fatigue began to set in on Zuko. 

All the manoeuvres and running he'd done aboard the Leviathan was starting to show as his defence became increasingly hard to do. The guard quickly got up on this and did a series of rapid-fire movements that sent too much fire at Zuko for him to actually block. Time seemed to slow down for Zuko as he saw the last fire blast head toward him, memories of the time he received his scar flooded to his mind and Zuko couldn't help but cringe at the thought of another scar on his face. 

Just as the fireball was about to burn his other eye, the flame was sent off to the side. Zuko looked to see that Aang had deflected the blast, with some of his remaining energy Aang quickly blasted the guard into the wall with such force that he slumped to the deck without a noise. 

Aang panted from the effort of air bending but he knew that they would have to get out of here as quickly as possible. Trying to push the thought of pain from his mind, Aang unfurled his glider and shouted to Zuko, "Let's go!"

Zuko quickly hurried to board the glider, as soon as he was on Aang quickly air bended into the sky. Aang struggled to concentrate on staying in the air but he found that he was having trouble breathing normally. Forcing himself to breathe normally, Aang focused on getting to the Western Air Temple. He knew it was only ten or so minutes away from where Vice Admiral Xylan had positioned his fleet and, for just this once, he was glad of that fact. 

Seeing the entrance to the temple ahead Aang felt new hope and quickly tried to speed up a little. As soon as Zuko and Aang approached the nearest platform Aang was barley able to land, the pain he had been attempting to block for the past ten minutes suddenly came down on him full force. The intensity of it seemed to numb him to everything around him and he grimaced at the feeling. His once iron-hard will to live started to fail rapidly and he found part of himself just wanting to end the pain and give in. But the other part refused, not only did he have a destiny to complete but, if nothing else, he had to see Katara again.

Zuko saw Aang swaying and he ran forward to support him. Aang clutched one hand to his stomach in an attempt to keep himself from losing anymore blood. Zuko half supported, half dragged Aang back to camp. Seeing the condition Aang was in, he knew there wasn't much time.

**Don't fall off that cliff. I uploaded the next chapter too, since I didn't think people would be able to take the suspense of knowing whether I kill Aang off or not**


	9. A Terrible Truth

"_Aang! Aang!" Katara yelled as she saw him falling into the water. Katara watched him sink into the watery depths as the she and the others headed back to the temple. Although she hadn't seen what had happened to Aang her mind filled in what part of her feared had happened. Katara pictured Aang drowning in the river, his body too drained from entering the Avatar State to let him swim._

Katara awoke with a start, sweating from the nightmare. Kicking her sleeping bag off, Katara walked away from the campfire. Part of her expected Aang to walk next to her and ask her what was wrong. But when she remembered what had happened to Aang today she started to cry. After getting a hold of herself, Katara stopped crying and continued to walk along the platforms, she needed time to think. Katara was so deep in her thoughts that she missed hearing the noises at first, but after she stopped to listen she heard them again.

"You've got to hold on. It's just a little further." Katara gasped at hearing Zuko's voice, no-one had seen him since they got back.

"I-I don't know if I can." Aang managed to choke out. Katara's heart glowed with happiness, Aang was alive!

"You can do it, you have to," Zuko urged.

"But-I…too…painful" Aang wheezed. Hearing Aang in distress brought Katara out of her paralysis and she darted toward the two voices. As she crossed a stone bridge, she could see Zuko supporting Aang. But when she saw Aang she almost froze again upon seeing a huge gash across his stomach. "Aang!" Katara yelled as she ran toward him.

Despite the amount of pain Aang was experiencing, the sight of Katara made him give a small smile. He slowly shook out of Zuko's grasp before walking toward Katara. But because of the amount of blood he lost, he felt too weak to get more than a couple of steps. Aang's legs couldn't support him in his current state and he fell over. Luckily, Katara grabbed him before he hit the ground. She was so happy that Aang was alive but also worried that she might still lose him that tears started to fall from her eyes again. 

Aang's will to live strengthened back when he looked at Katara. He brought his hand to her cheek and said, "I'm glad I was able to see you again."

Katara looked as though she was going to answer but Aang had already shut his eyes. Katara feared the worst but when she heard his shallow breathing she knew that he was just unconscious. Wary of the need to patch Aang up before he lost anymore blood, Katara carried Aang in her arms and rushed him back to camp with Zuko hot on her heels, there wasn't much time left.

Running faster than Katara had ever thought possible of herself she arrived at camp in a scant minute. Quickly pulling Aang around her campsite Katara foraged through her things until she found her water skin. Carefully bending out a stream of water she used her healing abilities and gently focused her chi toward Aang's stomach. Through the normal light bluish hue she could see that the cut was slowly healing itself. Katara forgot about everything but Aang as she brought her entire concentration onto healing him.

Having finally sealed up Aang's wound, Katara sat in silence gazing at his unconscious form. She saw the impact that his wounds had made on him and she was unwilling to leave him.

"I'm..sorry" Katara was surprised to hear Aang speak, and the fact that he sounded so weak made her want to kill whoever had done this to him. She looked to see Aang gazing up at her weakly.

"What are you sorry for?" Katara asked in confusion.

Aang swallowed hard and he blinked to try to clear his dizzy surroundings, "I'm…sorry…for……leaving." Aang had to choke out each word, he was so exhausted that even moving his mouth was a challenge.

Katara gently placed her hand over his mouth when it looked like he was trying to say more, "Save your strength," Katara whispered, she felt her eyes starting to water at the sight of Aang as weak and broken as he appeared. Bending over, she gave Aang a kiss on the tip of his arrow then pulled away and gave him a small smile, "I forgive you."

Aang gave her a smile of his own before giving into the darkness he had been fighting. His eyes fell shut as he once again slipped unconscious. "Is he going to make it?" A voice asked behind her. 

Slightly startled, Katara turned around to see Zuko standing there. "I don't know," Katara replied honestly, "I've sealed his wound but he's lost a lot of blood."

"Is he well enough to travel." Zuko asked with a sense of urgency.

"He should be. Why?" Katara felt annoyed at Zuko's presence, Aang may have trusted him but she wasn't about to let her guard down.

"Aang told me something bad on the flagship, we need to go. Right. Now." Zuko said, his eyes seemed to widen as he spoke.

Katara glared at Zuko but he didn't back down, recognizing that it must be important Katara decided to wake Sokka and Toph so that they could leave. A few minutes later, after finally getting Sokka awake, the five of them boarded Appa and took to the skies.

Captain Vai gripped the edge of the railing with white knuckles, this kind of failure was not going to stand well with the Admiral. Vai glanced over at Xylan, he was still gazing out at the space where the Avatar had left just seconds before reinforcements had arrived. 

Sharply turning the Admiral brought his cold gaze to acknowledge Vai, "Captain," Xylan barked with military protocol.

Snapping to attention, Vai stared directly ahead and shouted, "Sir!"

Xylan continued to stare at Vai as if he were a raw cadet, after a few moments of awkward silence, Xylan said, "Tell the fleet to regroup at our standard rendezvous point. We won't be able to catch the Avatar."

"Sir?" Vai responded in confusion, "From what the honour guard told us, they were able to severely injure the Avatar before he fled. He can't have gone further than the nearby temple."

"Agreed Captain," Xylan said as he turned back around and continued to gaze out at the river, "But once his friends find him, they will quickly flee the area."

Vai didn't know how to respond to that, if the Avatar was still alive, it would take a long time for their spies to be able to pinpoint their location. How could they possibly find him now.

As if the Admiral were reading Vai's thoughts he turned to acknowledge him and said, "Don't worry captain," A grim smile touching his lips, "I already have a plan."

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**It just gets better and better, right? I'm a pretty fast writer, as long as have an idea of what I'm writing about. I'm about halfway done with chapter 10. So I'll be updating soon. But enough of me, whatt about my story? Review! You can do it...even if its just a sentence, you can write a sentence right?...Seriously, right?**


	10. Crushed Resistance

**Finally got this chapter done! Just so you guys know I probably won't be updating for a few days. I need to figure out where I'm going with the next few chapters. For some reason I have my next story's plotline completley mapped out but I can't seem to figure out what I want to do with this one. Don't worry it'll come to me soon.**

**Only other thing I want to say is thx for 480 hits!**

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"Alright," Sokka said when he walked to the saddle after spending an hour steering Appa, "I want to know what is so important that we had to pack up camp and leave, and more importantly why I was woken up." Sokka glared at Zuko on the other side of the saddle.

"Aang told me on the _Leviathan_-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, the what?" Sokka interrupted

"The _Leviathan_," Zuko slowly repeated, "It's the flagship of the fleet that captured Aang. More importantly it's under the command of a Vice Admiral."

Sokka gaped at Zuko for a few seconds before he just said, "So, some admiral guy's been promoted. Wow. Ya know, for a second, I thought this was important."

Zuko sighed in frustration, "You don't understand, there's only _one_ Vice Admiral at a time, they are military geniuses. Only the most ruthless and cunning officer can possibly attain that rank. They only answer to the Firelord."

"So who is this guy exactly?" Sokka said, looking a little curious.

"His name is Xylan. I used to hear rumours of his accomplishments, but I never really believed them…" Zuko trailed off as if he were reliving those memories, "The stories of what he could do." Zuko said dreamily as he shuddered.

"What did you hear?" Sokka whispered

"I was told that he worked his way up from the ladder, relentlessly leading his people to conquest. He was rumoured to be able to snatch victory from a situation where any other commander would retreat. Xylan bombarded cities and villages until they submitted to the Firelord, he was the one responsible for defeating the entire Earth Kingdom navy with fifty ships." 

The others were silent for a minute before Sokka said, "Fifty ships, that's not possible." 

"It's not." Zuko agreed before continuing, "At least not for a normal commander."

Katara, who had been deep in thought during the entire conversation finally spoke up, "And this Admiral is after Aang?" A large part of her filled with concern. She had almost lost Aang once, she wasn't about to lose him again.

"We need to find somewhere where we can lie low, but with plenty of space for Aang to master the elements." Sokka said, ignoring Katara's rhetorical question, and surveying the forest below. Spying a secluded position, Sokka steerd Appa and they landed with a heavy thud as Appa collapsed from the long journey. 

After setting up camp, Katara tended to Aang's unconscious form. From the look of his pale skin, it was obvious that he was still cold from his near-fatal blood loss. Katara wrapped some blankets around him before lying down and going to sleep.

The _Leviathan_ glided through the sea, a stark contrast to its massive bulk. The 450 battleships of Xylan's fleet had regrouped and were en route to the eastern half of the Earth Kingdom. On the bridge of the _Leviathan_, Vice Admiral Xylan sat in the command chair, wondering how exactly he should proceed with his plan. Several possibilities ran through his mind, stealth was his preferred choice but he couldn't send a detachment of Ossuna to apprehend the Avatar until their shadow spy counterparts discovered the Avatar. Xylan knew it was only a matter of time until they were found; he had spies in every village across the Earth Kingdom. 

Until the Avatar was found Xylan had other plans to pursue. Namely, putting down the few revolts that had cropped up in the Fire Nation colonies. There were many resistance groups in Fire Nation territory, disrupting public order wherever they surfaced. Xylan planned to remind the citizens who they served.

"Distance to target, Lieutenant." Xylan asked the navigation officer.

"Five kilometres, Admiral." The Lieutenant responded, knowing that Xylan was referring to the last major military outpost still in Earth Kingdom hands.

"Excellent," Xylan said as he moved to the viewports, "Head in four more kilometres, then signal the fleet to stop." Xylan continued to gaze toward the distant Earth Kingdom outpost. Xylan frowned and thought to himself, _The last remaining Earth Kingdom stronghold, and no military forces to defend it? _Suddenly his danger instincts kicked in, acting on his awareness Xylan immediately ordered all ships to stop and reform. Just as his orders were being relayed, a shroud of fog enveloped the fleet, skrinking visibility down to a mere ten metres. 

_An ambush_, Xylan thought with a tiny smile, _A bold move_. Turning to the communications officer, Xylan ordered the fleet to form a schiltrom formation. A formation designed for fighting when surrounded, the fleet formed into a circle configuration, with bows pointing outward. The deck rumbled as the Leviathan took up its position at the centre of the circle, Xylan knew that the primary weakness of such a configuration was that the fleet would have no maneauvering room, leaving them vulnerable to enemy fire. But the idea was to concentrate the fleet's firepower to destroy enemy ships before they even entered firing range.

"Admiral, all ships report ready." The communication officer relayed.

"Good, tell all ships to ready their strike teams." Xylan turned to the intercom, the prototype used on the drill at the battle of Ba Sing Se had since been incorporated into the entire fleet. Flipping the switch Xylan spoke, "Warriors, prepare for combat!" Xylan addressed the Leviathan's remaining Ossuna. 

As soon as the last patrol boat cleared the _Leviathan's_ hangar, a large boulder arced from the fog where it impacted into the water in between two battleships. Xylan immediately turned on the communications officer, "Contact the fleet and instruct the commanders to fire alongside that boulders last known trajectory."

"On it, sir!" The Lieutenant shouted. A few seconds later the rest of the ships acknowledged the order and 312 fireballs plummeted into the thick fog. A minute later, an answering response came from the earth kingdom ships. Forty boulders sped directly into the Defender. One boulder scored a direct hit across the starboard hull, leaving a gaping hole for the raging waters to pour into. 

Vai felt his rage building, the loss of battleship this early in an engagement was not a good sign. 

"Admiral," The communications officer turned to face Xylan, "The fleet requests permission to engage the Earth Kingdom ships." 

Xylan silently gazed at the fog, something seemed wrong about this battle. Suddenly a thought seemed to explode in his mind. "Water benders," he muttered.

"Admiral?" Vai asked as he regarded the admiral with confusion.

"The fog, captain," Xylan said matter-of-factly, "was created by water benders. My guess is that the Earth Kingdom commander intends to lure the fleet out into the fog, where he'll have water benders poised for ambush." 

Xylan smiled as a plan clicked into place, "See captain, their commander forces us to either stay here and remain under fire, or attack and be destroyed. Fortunately, we have another option." Turning to acknowledge the COM operator, Xylan said, "Inform the fleet commanders that they're request is denied. Order all ships to send their strike teams ahead. Inform them that there are water benders hiding in the fog. Make it clear that they are to clear a path for the fleet."

The COM operator nodded before relaying the Admiral's orders to the rest of the fleet. A moment later, forty patrol boats sped into the fog, a detachment of Ossuna and fire benders carried in each. 

Ossuna commander Disra gathered his squad aboard one of the patrol boats from the Leviathan. By the time the admiral had given the order to attack, they were all ready. Gazing out at the fog as the patrol ship accelerated into the thick of it, Disra prepared for boarding action. Entering the fog, Disra spotted several canoes, the preferred method of transportation for water bending strike teams. The patrol boats accelerated at full speed, the strike teams were eager for battle. A few of the boats were impaled by ice as the water benders moved to attack. The vast majority, however, were able to evade the attacks; making it clear that the water benders had been cut off guard. 

As soon as the patrol boat was close enough, Disra and his squad of Ossuna jumped onto the canoe. Drawing swords, the Ossuna attacked with a ferocity that the water benders couldn't handle. Swinging his sword with grace, Disra left water bender bodies in his wake. Their comrades engaged in similar battles, fire benders burned the canoes while armoured Ossuna boarded the canoes, screaming warcries. Ten minutes from when Xylan gave the strike teams the green light, their part was done. Disra signalled the Leviathan before boarding the patrol boat and regrouping with the fleet.

"Admiral, Commander Disra reports that the way is clear." The Lieutenant reported form the Leviathan's bridge.

Xylan gave a nod in satisfaction before ordering the fleet to break formation and advance in standard line. Several battleships quickly broke the shiltrom in their haste to avenge their fallen comrades, a moment later the _Leviathan_ accelerated into combat as well. Xylan's fleet accelerated into the fog, their decks ablaze with primed catapults. The ships cleared the fog and immediately launched their catapults; fireballs filled the skies as battleships opened fire at the twenty Earth kingdom ships. An answering response came from the enemy ships as they launched boulders to intercept the fireballs. 

Two elements collided in the river, earth and fire. Battleships rammed Earth kingdom ships at full speed, their metal bows puncturing the stone armoured hull of their enemy. The Leviathan's catapults launched fire balls that were sent hurtling onto the decks of enemy ships, sending shrapnel and fragments in every direction. The Earth Kingdom commander fought valiantly but with 450 Fire Nation battleships to fight against the outcome was never in any doubt. The Leviathan's last barrage sunk the remaining Earth Kingdom ship and the crew of the _Leviathan_ let out a cheer that shook the deck. 

Turning his attention back to the outpost, Xylan ordered his fleet to surround it. Although their defences had been wiped out, the occupants of the Earth Kingdom outpost refused to surrender. Turning to Captain Vai, Xylan said, "You may commence bombardment Captain."

"Yes, sir." Captain Vai relayed Xylan's orders to the Levithan's artillery coordinator. The Leviathan's 25 catapults fired at the outpost, a signal to the fleet to do the same. 625 fireballs impacted against the thick stone wall, leaving it cracked in many places. The air was thick with smoke as the fleet fired another salvo, further damaging the wall. Captain Vai spotted a white flag being hung as the outpost surrendered, "Admiral?" Vai knew the admiral could see it too, though Vai would personally disregard their plea to surrender. They had already been asked once after all.

As if Xylan were having the same thoughts he turned to the burning outpost and ordered with a gesture of his hand, "Resume the bombardment, captain. Wipe this pathetic outpost off the map."

Vai nodded before ordering the fleet to resume fire. A few hours later, where there once stood an outpost with thick stone walls and a light garrison of Earth benders, there was only a pile of rubble. The rebellion in the Earth Kingdom had been crushed.

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**Go and review now! You can do it!**


	11. A Dark Vision

**I know I said I wasn't going to update for a while but I had an idea to show the detailed destruction of the Earth Kingdom outpost from a different perspective. It also provides a small break from the constant action.**

**Review Responses: **

**Aryck1095: I'm suprised you noticed it that quickly. But yeah I did combine a couple things from KOTOR and Halo into my fic. I said I was going to be combining things from my favourite stories and such, it enhances the story in my opinion.**

**Shewasforgotten: Yeah, Xylan is a dark character, but then again he is a ruthless commander.**

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Deep in the forest everything was peaceful, except for a certain air bender. Aang stirred in his sleep as his mind was plagued by a terrible vision…

_Aang glanced around the inside of what he presumed to be an Earth Kingdom fortress; the layout was similar to General Fong's. Aang felt a smile spread across his face, it was nice to see a place that wasn't war ravaged. Everyone here seemed to be genuinely happy, even the soldiers. A group of troops were training in a small arena while others patrolled the streets. Aang was distracted as an officer quickly ran to a group of troops shouting in a voice that boomed throughout the plaza, "All troops to the wall! We're under fire!" _

_The Earth benders immediately stopped what they were doing and marched with military precision to the wall. No sooner had they started marching than loud cracks could be heard as Xylan's fleet started their bombardment. Fireballs filled the sky above the city, their graceful arcs halted as they fell toward the fortress at lightning speed. The earth benders on the walls fired rocks at the fireballs and although they scored hits, there were far too many to stop them all. Almost as if a meteor shower had fallen on the fortress, fireballs impacted full force on houses, spreading fires and chaos as civilians ran in a futile attempt to find safety. Another salvo was fired, half of the fireballs impacted the stone walls, while the other half rained destruction in the central plaza as they impacted with such force that craters were formed; creating a light smoke screen as dust was kicked up from the ground._

_The garrison commander surveyed the destruction from his position on the wall, turning to his troops he said, "We can't hold out against firepower of this magnitude," breathing a sigh of defeat he gave an order no commander gives lightly, "Let them know that we surrender." _

_His soldiers gave a grim nod before lifting a white flag onto the wall, there was no way they would be able to miss it. The fleet stopped firing as soon as the flag was in place. Breathing a sigh of relief, the majority of the soldiers left the wall to make preparations to allow their conquerors to enter the fortress. _

_No sooner had they left then the bombardment resumed, all 625 fireballs impacted on the stone wall. The concussive force proved to be too much for the wall to block, a third of the wall collapsed, taking the soldiers with it. The troops let out screams of terror as they fell from the wall, their bodies buried in the falling stone. _

_With part of the wall breached, there was no protection for the occupants of the Earth Kingdom fortress. Fireballs that would have hit the stone wall were now impacting every building in the outpost, burning them to piles of molten rock. The remaining Earth benders stood in the centre of their fortress, making a last stand. They continued to shoot down as many fireballs as they possibly could; at least they did until a stray shot impacted dead centre into their formation, putting an end to the military force. _

_With no further resistance the fireballs found target after target, scorching buildings and civilians alike. Aang felt nothing but despair as he watched the outpost burn, the smoke from the fires was so big that it looked like a tornado had been formed in the sky. A group of women hid behind a still intact building, hoping that it would protect them. A fireball was launched directly in their path, Aang threw himself in front of the fireball in a desperate attempt to protect the innocent. The fireball came close enough where its flaming surface filled Aang's entire vision. Bracing himself for impact Aang's vision turned to blackness as he squeezed his eyes shut, he could still hear the women's dying screams echoing in his mind…_

Waking with a start, Aang pushed the blankets off his body as he felt himself sweating from the vision and twitching from the excess adrenaline coursing through his system. Ignoring his weak condition Aang walked away from camp, he needed to focus his mind and calm himself down. With his senses hyper-aware he found himself recoiling from every sound he heard, his mind was still feeling the echo of his vision. Falling to his knees, Aang felt tears slip down his face as the vision replayed itself in his mind. Aang felt as if he could still see the fireballs falling from the sky and still smell the smoke as the buildings burned to a cinder. 

Hearing footsteps behind him Aang turned sharply and shouted, "Who's there!"

"It's me," A familiar voice whispered. Aang squinted into the darkness and could finally distinguish Katara's form from the darkness. 

Breathing a sigh of relief, Aang sank to his knees on a patch of grass. Katara approached him cautiously, he seemed incredibly on edge. Wrapping her arms around him Katara whispered, "What's wrong, Aang?" Aang turned to look at her and Katara could see tears slipping down his face, Aang remained silent.

"Aang what happened?" Katara gently urged with a hint of desperation in her tone.

"I…it was a vision," Aang started to say, "I was in an Earth Kingdom fortress, there were children playing….people…laughing. Then soldiers started to move and fireballs started falling from the sky. Houses were burning and people were screaming. I…I couldn't move. There were so many…it was like a meteor shower had targeted the city. I heard a loud crack and turned to see the wall crumbling. I jumped in the way of a fireball that was heading for some people then everything went dark…but I could still hear them screaming." Aang whispered the entire vision, images running through his brain as he spoke.

For the first time in her life Katara didn't know what to say, she just hugged Aang tighter, comforting him as much as she could. "It was just a dream, Aang. It wasn't real."

Aang nodded at her words and he happily accepted her embrace but a part of him knew that it wasn't a dream and that it was real. Sokka would have called it "Avatar stuff" but he knew the truth, people had been killed and he hadn't been able to save them. Aang's weak condition suddenly came down on him and he felt himself shiver, a reminder that his blood cells still needed to regenerate. The pain and the vision swelled up in Aang and the next thing he knew he was silently crying into Katara's shoulder. He spent the remainder of the night wrapped in Katara's arms, silently trying to forget his vision.

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**Before you leave, go ahead and review. The next chapter will be out in three days or so, try not to go crazy until then.**


	12. Continuing Cycle

**Here you go guys. The next installment. I tried to make it longer than the past ones. Anyway enough of that get to readin'!**

Aang took a deep breath and attempted to ease his restless mind, ever since his vision Aang's goals had been torn in two

Aang took a deep breath and attempted to ease his restless mind, ever since his vision Aang's goals had been torn in two. His avatar side urged him to follow his destiny and not let anything stop him from ending this war. But the part of him that was just Aang wanted more than anything to stop Xylan's campaign of destruction. General Fong's words had come back to haunt him after his vision. In the thick of his nightmares, Aang could hear his voice echoing in the darkness. _"While you take your time learning the elements, the war goes on."_

Aang's mind was constantly swarming and he found it difficult to remain calm. His injuries still kept him awake too and Aang was at the point where he was desperate for even a moment of peace. Taking another deep breath, Aang sat down on a large boulder, the secluded position ensured that there would be no disturbances. Closing his eyes, Aang began to slowly breathe in and out until he felt himself enter a sort of light trance.

Aang's meditation was normally filled with peaceful feelings and images, things that help to calm his mind. But this time all he could see were images of burning buildings and fireballs raining from the skies.

Aang's eyes flew open and he found himself breathing heavily from fear. It had been like this ever since that night three days ago. Despite his attempt to forget his vision and concentrate on his duty, it was becoming increasingly difficult. If Katara wasn't around to comfort him, Aang didn't know what he would do to keep himself going.

Realizing that meditation wasn't an option to help him calm down, Aang got to his feet and started walking to his training area.

Although Aang still felt weak from his injury, he had spent the past three days almost constantly training. Going through fire bending sequences with Zuko, learning advanced earth bending forms with Toph, and practicing water bending with Katara had left him feeling drained. He rarely had time to himself anymore and with his sleep always plagued with nightmarish images and feelings, Aang found that the only time he could feel like himself was when he was practicing with all four elements.

Walking through the forest, Aang followed the path he had created for himself when he had first discovered the second clearing in the forest. Coming from the edges of the tree line, Aang came to a tundra area, the lush, green grass was a welcome sight to Aang after being reminded of his dark vision. Working his way to the centre of the tundra, Aang took a deep breath to calm himself, closing his eyes he took a moment before starting. Without warning he brought his hand slamming down on the ground to create a tunnel of earth shooting in a linear direction away from Aang. While the tunnel was zooming away, Aang shot a stream of fire out from his palm and toward the sky, and then, just as swiftly, Aang blasted a ball of air out from his right fist in the opposite direction from the earth tunnel. Aang then proceeded to bend some water from Katara's water skin and send a whip of water zipping behind him.

While Aang was bending the elements time perception seemed to slow for him. Making his body a blur of motion, if a bystander had seen Aang it would have seemed as if he were bending all four elements simultaneously. Aang kept it up, going through complex sequences and drills until he felt his supply of adrenaline dwindling, and with it, the fatigue Aang had been attempting to block all day.

Panting from the intense focus required to bend all four elements at once, Aang sat down on the grass. He felt so drained, fatigue had already set in on him from his lack of sleep and his constant training had just made it worse. Getting to his feet Aang started to walk back to camp, his mind was too sluggish and unresponsive for him to get any benefit out of anymore training.

Walking into camp, Aang picked up the scent of cooking meat, a sensation he didn't particularly enjoy. But Aang was so hungry that even the smell of meat was enough to send his stomach growling. Looking up from the campfire, Sokka spotted Aang and said, "Hey Aang, I was just about to go looking for you, dinner's ready." Sokka said as he showed Aang a handful of berries. Eager to ease his ravenous hunger, Aang almost sprinted to Sokka and snatched the berries out of his outstretched hand before he even knew what was happening.

Just as quickly, Aang withdrew into the tent that he and Katara shared, leaving a very confused Sokka in his wake. "Uh, what was that about?" Sokka asked with a frown.

"He's just happy," Toph said.

"How do you figure that?" Sokka asked in complete confusion

"He's happy because he knows he can always have something edible to eat." Toph said as she looked toward Sokka's sad attempt at cooking with a look of disgust, "I mean I'm blind and even I can 'see' that you can't cook right." Toph continued with a smirk etched across her face.

Sokka shot her a savage glare that was, of course, completely lost on Toph. His expression turned to a frown when Katara, and even Zuko, laughed at her statement. Breathing out a sigh Sokka said, "Look guys I'm trying to do something here."

"Emphasize on _trying_." Toph said with a small laugh. Her statement made Katara and Zuko laugh even harder.

Breathing out of the corner of his mouth Sokka glanced at his friends and said in exasperation, "Seriously guys."

Vice Admiral Xylan glanced at the message the Fire Lord had sent after he had heard about Xylan's utter annihilation of the remaining Earth Kingdom resistance in the Fire Nation colonies. _Fool,_ Xylan thought with intense exasperation. The Fire Lord had bestowed another title on the Vice Admiral, Ozai had declared Xylan to be a noble in the Fire Nation; a blatant attempt to ensure his loyalty. Xylan remembered what his mentor had used to say to him, _"It is not titles that honour men, but men that honour titles."_ Xylan had no use for titles beyond the military forces they allowed him to command. Though, Xylan was grateful that the title of Viscount had allowed him to request an additional ten battleships from the Eastern Fleet.

Xylan's request not only allowed him to increase the size of his fleet but it also gave him a way to secure the military takeover that he'd been planning for years.

Xylan wasn't the first Vice Admiral to have thought of this. In theory, the Vice Admiral was loyal only to the Fire Lord. But being at the top of the command structure gave a more thorough look at how things were run. And the way Ozai ran things made a man like Xylan want to scream.

Ozai may have been a member of the royal family and that gave him a political advantage that no-one in the military possessed. But of course, that was precisely the problem. Political skills were only useful in times of peace. With war being waged, tactics and strategy were the new tools of the trade, tools that Ozai didn't posses, and were something he couldn't buy.

With ships from the Eastern Fleet mixing with his, Xylan would be able to transfer crewmembers from his ships to those of the Eastern Fleet. When Xylan transferred the ships back to the Eastern Fleet, his crewmembers would spread factual tales about Xylan's tactical genius and successfully executed battle plans. In time, the tales would spread far enough to the point where the entire Eastern Fleet would be loyal to him.

When that day came, Xylan would be able to overthrow Ozai and finally forge the empire that Fire Lord Sozin had envisioned so many years ago. _But not yet, not yet_. Xylan thought as he prepared to transfer half of the crew left over from the _Defender_ to the Eastern Ship _Trafalgar._ Xylan's master plan was in its final phase and there was nothing anyone could do to stop it.

Aang had eaten the forty or so berries Sokka had collected in the forest in a matter of seconds. With his hunger under control, Aang had immediately laid down to go to sleep, he was so exhausted that he had fallen asleep in two minutes.

_Aang found himself emerging from a forest to see a small village in the distance. The scenery was one of the most beautiful sights Aang had even seen, a small river flowed not far from the village and even from this distance Aang could see a bunch of animals by the riverside. _

_Aang smiled as he saw a small child playing by the river, such blissful innocence made part of Aang yearn to be back the Southern Air Temple. Glancing back at the village Aang saw people going about their daily lives. The adults behaved much like the children; they didn't have a care in the world. _

_Smiling to himself, Aang headed to the river, the abundance of nature always made him relax. Plunging his feet in the water, Aang felt something that he hadn't felt for three days, happiness, pure happiness. This was life as he pictured it would be after he had fulfilled his destiny, no more war, no more danger. _

_Suddenly, the water felt scorching hot. Pulling back his feet with a yelp of pain Aang glanced around and saw a curtain of fire sweep across the forest on the outside of the forest, Aang could hear screams and he turned to the village to see fire benders marching toward the village, they numbered in the thousands. As soon as they were in range of the village they let loose a curtain of fire that destroyed buildings, spreading out to consume the forest. The fire kept moving, spreading destruction in its wake until it covered the entire world. Like an evil flood the fire benders destroyed all that lay before them…_

Aang's eyes flew open in shock of what he'd just seen. Aang was surprised to find Katara was awake, and even more surprised to find her kneeling beside him, her eyes shown with concern. Aang took a deep breath to try to calm his shattered nerves. A light coat of sweat covered his face and Aang shivered at the sights he had seen. What bothered Aang the most was that he didn't know if his continuing nightmares were just nightmares or more visions.

"Another nightmare?" Was all Katara asked as she moved Aang's head onto her lap.

Aang squeezed his eyes shut as he nodded an affirmative.

"You haven't really been sleeping well lately; do you want to talk about it?" Katara asked as she wiped the sweat off Aang's face.

Aang hesitated, torn between the desire to tell her and hope that he would stop having these dreams or to not tell her since he wasn't sure if he wanted to describe what he saw. Finally choosing to tell her, Aang recounted his nightmare, being as vague as possible so as to not have to put the horrible images in Katara's mind.

After he finished, Katara hugged Aang tightly as she said, "Its okay, none of this will ever happen again when you defeat Ozai. There won't be any more war."

Aang breathed a sigh of relief at her words; the comforting tone she used made Aang forget all about his nightmare, for a change. The fact that she had said 'when' and not 'if' he defeated Ozai was extremely comforting as well. Aang no longer had doubts about his ability to end this war but it was still nice to hear someone else say it. Twisting around in her embrace so that he was facing her, Aang hugged her back as he whispered, "Thanks Katara, I don't know what I'd do without you."

Katara smiled at him and replied, "Anytime, Aang." Katara gave a loud yawn, a reminder to how tired she was.

Aang immediately felt guilty, "I'm really sorry for waking you Katara. I could sleep somewhere else if you want me to."

Katara smiled at how caring he was, "its okay Aang, I don't think if I'd be able to sleep at all if you weren't here."

Aang smiled back as he gave a yawn of his own and laid back down on the ground. Katara crawled back into her sleeping bag and was glad to be warm again. That thought made her glance at Aang with concern. "Aang? Are you warm laying down like that?"

"I'm fine." Aang replied even as his body shivered from the cold. Closing his eyes, Aang attempted to find sleep once again. A rustling noise distracted him and he looked to his right to see Katara snuggling against him with her sleeping bag. Aang smiled as he draped an arm over her before falling asleep to a deep and peaceful slumber.

Aang woke up the next morning feeling, for once since his nightmares started, energetic. Slowly easing himself away from Katara's still sleeping form Aang left the tent. Walking outside, Aang was surprised to see that Sokka, of all people, was up before him. A quick glance at Sokka by the fire told Aang that he wasn't in a very good mood. "Morning, Sokka." Aang said as grabbed some more berries and sat down across from him. Sokka only grunted in reply and looked at his hunting spear.

"Something wrong?" Aang asked into the ensuing silence.

"Yeah, something's wong Aang. I went out hunting today and I couldn't find a single animal!" Grabbing his money bag Sokka started walking away from camp.

"Where are you going?" Aang asked as Sokka continued to depart.

"Going to a village to get some food." Sokka called over his shoulder before taking off into the woods.

Shaking his head with amusement Aang headed over to his training spot to start the day.

Walking out of his temporary home, Otomo pulled on his cloak and took a walk around the village. He had only been stationed here for three months by Vice Admiral Xylan to serve as a spy in this part of the Earth Kingdom, he was ordered to keep an eye out for the Avatar and any of his companions. Otomo had a deep respect for Admiral Xylan, he knew many in the military considered him a tactical genius and after seeing the things that he had accomplished, Otomo had to agree.

While Otomo knew that his presence here was required to bring victory to the Fire Nation, he would rather return to being stationed as an honour guard aboard the _Leviathan_. Sighing in frustration, Otomo continued his appointed rounds around the village; the sooner he got out of here the better.

Otomo had been walking around the clustered huts and the people as they went about their daily routine. Otomo had checked the interior and perimeter of the village three times over and hadn't seen anything that would get him to leave this accursed place. Gritting his teeth, Otomo planned to return to his house and hope for the best tomorrow. Something he'd done for the past two weeks after he'd become tired of being stationed here.

Suddenly Otomo was able to see a person in his peripheral vision, what stopped him from waking was that this person wasn't wearing the traditional attire for this village. Turning his head in the stranger's direction, Otomo knew he had found what he'd been waiting for, after Xylan had ordered him to keep a watch for the Avatar and his friends, Otomo had memorized their appearances. It was clear to Otomo that the water tribe warrior had entered the village. After Otomo had made a visual confirmation, he casually made his way where he could observe his target without being noticed.

The warrior walked into a butcher shop, then just as quickly walked out, carrying a few boxes of meat under his arm. Otomo walked behind him, making sure to keep an adequate distance and to appear innocuous. As soon as the warrior entered the forest, Otomo broke off his chase. He had studied the surrounding terrain enough to know that there was only one place in the forest, within walking distance, that would be an ideal campsite. Sprinting back to his home, Otomo scrambled to write down a message to Admiral Xylan, explaining his sighting and where the Avatar could be found. As his hawk flew off into the sky, Otomo hoped beyond words that he found the key to a regular posting.

Vice Admiral Xylan studied the terrain where the Avatar had been sighted, commanders from twenty of his most experienced ships were present as well.

"Admiral, the closest waterway to the Avatar's location is four kilometres away. By the time we land our troops, they'll most likely have taken off again."

Xylan regarded the commander before shaking his head in disagreement, "No I don't believe that's the case, Commander. It's unlikely that the Avatar would want to risk drawing attention to himself. He'll be lying low, using his time to master the elements."

Several of the commanders adopted confused expressions but it was Captain Vai, standing to the Admiral's right, who actually put the confusion into words. "If that's true Admiral then why would his companion walk into a village to gather supplies?"

Xylan turned to Vai with a small smile, "Why indeed, Captain. Obviously they have made a mistake and we will be the ones to reap the rewards.," pointing to various areas of the map Xylan ordered, "I want patrol boats launched and sent to these areas. Our ability to capture the Avatar will rely on speed and stealth. Have my patrol boat and honour guards assembled in hangar one, I'll be personally leading this attack. Dismissed."

The commanders bowed in acknowledgement before marching out of the room. Xylan looked at the circled target area, the location of the Avatar and whispered, "I have you now."

**Review EVERYONE!! C'mon you guys I don't care if its just two words. Flame me, compliment me, bash my story, say its great I don't care. Just give me a reason why and I don't care. **


	13. Swiftly and Silently

**I'm only updating since _MelInuLover_ gave me a review. You guys all owe this update to her. She made a very good point too, why don't I have fifty reveiws by now?**

**OH and thanks for the compliment **_MelInuLover_, **much obliged.**

Standing on the deck of the patrol boat _Avenger_, Vice Admiral Xylan gazed at the distant shoreline, their target insertion point. Although many Fire Nation commanders preferred the lead from the rear philosophy, Xylan preferred the warrior's approach. Being at the front allowed Xylan to make quick decisions that could mean the difference between victory or defeat on the battlefield.

As the patrol boat squadrons moved closer to the insertion point Xylan visualized the map of the area and the marked areas where the other groups would be landing. Xylan gave a small smile, in a little under two hours 500 fire benders and Ossuna would surround the Avatar, and he wouldn't know…until it was too late.

Aang practically dragged himself back to camp after he had done intense drilling with all four elements. Aang had redoubled his efforts now that he had recovered from his injury, and he was greatly improving in everything he attempted. Aang felt a surge of pride within himself whenever he mastered a fire bending sequence or perfected an earth bending form.

Aang sighed as he sat down on the ground outside his tent, although Aang was grateful that his sleep was no longer plagued with images of burning cities. He would like to have more time to himself. Things got so bad that Aang yearned for the hours where everyone would be stuck riding on Appa, at least then he could do whatever he wanted. Sensing someone to his left, Aang turned to see Katara standing beside him, a concerned expression on her face. Looking at Aang, Katara asked, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. It's just that sometimes I wish I could have fun for a change." Aang replied as he breathed out a deep sigh.

Katara smiled at Aang, sometimes she had trouble picturing Aang as the Avatar. Despite the duty that had been placed on his shoulders Aang had never once stopped having fun, Katara found it to be one of the many things that she loved about him. "Are you trying to tell me that our water bending sessions aren't fun?" Katara asked, feigning a hurt voice.

Unfortunately Aang thought her hurt was genuine. Turning to her with a slightly shocked expression Aang said, "No I didn't mean it that way! I just meant that I wanted to-"

Katara interrupted his protests with a laugh, "Relax Aang, I knew what you meant."

Breathing out a sigh of relief Aang gave a nervous laugh in acknowledgment. He opened his mouth to reply when Toph ran up to them with a look of alarm etched across her face. "We're being surrounded, we need to leave!"

"What?" Aang thought in puzzlement, there was no way that Appa was followed when they made the trek over here. As soon as he said that, the answer hit him like an airball across the face, _Sokka,_ Aang thought. Someone must have recognized him in the village.

"How many of them are there?" Katara asked

Toph visibly shivered as the vibrations from the intruder's footsteps formed a swirling vortex in her mind. Turning to the others, Toph whispered softly, "hundreds."

Xylan ran with his troops at the head of the column, honour guards formed a loose box around him, ready to protect the Admiral at a moment's notice. Xylan knew that the group's earthbender would be able to sense their vibrations since there hadn't been enough time to hand out wooden blocks for everyone. Picking up his pace to a full out sprint, Xylan shouted in a voice that boomed throughout the forest, "Units, fly like the wind! To victory!"

The answering roar from the troops was deafening as 500 fire benders let out shouts of approval. The roar also served as a psychological tactic, weakening their enemies resolve before they had even been engaged.

Xylan and his honour guards sprinted ahead of the troops. Jumping through thickly tangled vines and foliage, they emerged at the Avatar's campsite finding, as Xylan expected, the Avatar and his companions already preparing for an engagement.

Xylan had a little more than a few moments to take in his surrondings before the Avatar's companions opened fire. Swiftly jumping to avoid a series of earth bending attacks, Xylan sent a powerful stream of fire in the direction of his attacker. The fire would have lanced across Toph's chest where it not for Aang's quick thinking. Acting entirely on reflex, Aang created an earth wall in front of Toph, saving her from third-degree burns. Sokka had noticed how close Toph had come to being injured, shaking in anger Sokka drew his sword and slowly advanced on two of Xylan's honour guards. While Sokka's sword met the spears of the honour guards with a loud reverberating clang, Xylan's forces had caught up to the admiral.

While Sokka was standing his ground against Xylan's honour guards, the rest of his friends were now fighting a small army. Toph sent fire benders hurtling away with quick earth bending moves while Aang was redirecting fire bending forms back at his foes. Despite their efforts, there were simply too many for Aang and his friends to claim victory in this battle. Aang worked his way towards Katara, he knew that there weren't any bodies of water around and that Katara would have to rely on her water skin and he was intent on protecting her. Aang could barley hear fire bender demands for him to surrender above the chaos of battle but it didn't matter, surrender wasn't an option.

As the battle dragged on, Aang was growing more and more distraught. It seemed every time he knocked a fire bender down, three more would rise to take their place. Sokka seemed to be having the same thoughts, he took a quick glance around before asking, "Where's Appa?"

Aang wondered that too, drawing his attention away from the battle, Aang looked around but he couldn't see Appa anywhere. Then he remembered that Appa had followed Aang to his training site that morning. A sense of hopelessness fell on Aang as he remembered that his bison whistle was in Appa's saddle.

Unfortunately, Aang's split second distraction would cost him dearly, a fire bender had sensed his distraction and had quickly moved forward to attack Katara's now exposed flank. Katara continued to water whip fire benders in her path, she ignored fire benders behind her since she knew that Aang was protecting her from that side. Her inattentiveness meant that she never expected the stream of fire coming as it burned into her back. The extreme heat against her skin caused an unbearable sensation of pain lancing up her spine. The sensation was so extreme that Katara lost consciousness and fell to the floor with smoke coming from her burnt parka.

Aang had turned back to the battle unfolding before him and felt his eyes widen when he saw Katara slump to the ground, smoke pouring from her burnt clothing. The image of Katara's burnt body on the ground buried itself into his mind, and with the image feelings of rage, pain, hopelessness, and failure flooded to his mind. Aang grimaced as his emotions swirled around inside him like an enormous whirlpool, Aang tried to suppress what he knew was coming, he couldn't afford to lose control, not here. But despite his best efforts Aang felt his perceptions blacking out, his Avatar Spirit had reasserted itself.

Xylan calmly surveyed the battle unfolding before him, his fire benders had surrounded the Avatar exactly as he planned. But even with the 500 fire benders at his disposal, Xylan had been wary of the battle's outcome. But now Xylan predicted it to be only a matter of time before victory was his. Just as that thought crossed his mind, Xylan turned his head to regard an intense light, straining to see Xylan could see something he had dreaded since the start of this battle; the Avatar had entered the Avatar State.

Quickly looking at his troops, Xylan knew their current formation would leave them wide open to the Avatar's wrath. While Xylan would like nothing more than to strike the Avatar down while he was in the Avatar State, he knew that it couldn't be done without fleet bombardment at his disposal. Shouting in a voice that echoed throughout the battle zone Xylan shouted, "Men, fall back! Back to the ships, retreat!"

Xylan ignored the confused expressions on several of the commander's faces. Fortunately, Xylan's troops obeyed his order without hesitation; turning on their heels the fire bender and Ossuna squads sprinted back to the patrol boats. This battle was over.

Through his hazy perception, Aang was dimly aware that the fire benders were retreating and he once again tried to calm down his raging emotions and end this before he did something he would regret. But despite his efforts, there was no change. His emotions cried out for vengeance and his Avatar Spirit intended to soothe the demands of his emotions.

Aang was about to give up when he heard a strange voice echo in his mind, "You must suppress your emotions, end this cycle before innocents suffer. Killing fire benders won't change what has happened." Aang nodded in agreement, the voice was distantly familiar; pushing that thought aside, Aang concentrated on what needed to be done. Aang envisioned his rage as a river of lava and thought of the truth like an ocean soothing the lava as it flowed into it. Gradually Aang felt his perceptions clearing up as he felt his Avatar Spirit return to its dormant state.

When Aang opened his eyes he expected to see the familiar forest landscape but instead he found himself surrounded by darkness with a swirling fog dancing across his vision. A figure emerged from the darkness, Aang found the person distantly familiar, "Roku?" he asked somewhat uncertainly.

"No," the figure spoke with the same voice Aang had heard echo in his mind, My name is Avatar Vontor." The figure emerged from the fog to reveal a tall man wearing a red cloak with a hood that hid his face in the shadows.

"Why am I here?" Aang asked with a feeling of uneasiness, Roku was always the Avatar who spoke to him.

"You are here because you do not know that your Avatar Spirit is not only in its untamed state, it is also more wild and dangerous."

"What do you mean?" Aang questioned with a frown

"You are more susceptible to losing control, as you almost did back at the forest. If you continue on this path, your Avatar Spirit will tap into your more, dark sided emotions….eventually you will lose complete control over your actions." Vontor continued to speak without showing his face, something that Aang found unsettling. "But I can teach you to permanently suppress your Avatar Spirit, it's a delicate path to walk but you no longer have a choice."

Aang stood tall and declared, "I'll do whatever it takes." When Avatar Vontor remained silent Aang pressed, "I'm not afraid."

"You should be," Vontor warned finally lifting back his hood to expose a large scar that ran down his left cheek. "I once thought that I had my Avatar Spirit under control, but I was wrong and innocent people suffered for my mistake."

"I won't fail," Aang declared one again, he wasn't about to make a mistake not after what he'd almost done today.

"Then I will train you, enter the Spirit World tomorrow and we will begin."

"You?" Aang questioned uncertainly, "Why not Roku?" The question was out of Aang's mouth before he realized what he said.

Luckily Avatar Vontor smiled at his words, "Because you and I are the only ones to have walked this path." Turning to bring his eyes down on Aang he continued, "But perhaps you will be able to finish what I started so many years ago." With that said the fog swirled around Aang and his vision turned to blackness….

**SO..what did you think? Give a review guys, doesn't matter how you do it. Compliment me, flame me I. Don't. Care. As long as you give me a reason anyway. Plus I'm shootin' for number 1 on the Avatar list, so if you guys like my story, tell all your friends!**


	14. Suppression Techniques

**Here you go guys, the next chapter. Just so you know I might not be updating for a while, it looks like several projects are being thrown in my face at school so I don't know if I'll have time to update as frequently.**

**Review Responses: **

**Advanceshipping Maniac****: Thx for the comment. As to how I come up with so many names…I created most of them but I did take a few from books that I like.**

**Shewasforgotten****: Thanks I appreciate the support, hope you liked what I wrote…**

**Aryck1095****: Thanks for the comment, as to your other question I'm afraid that I haven't played Mass Effect, it must be the only game I haven't played. But if I can still help you out in some way just let me know.**

**Oh and thanks for your support guys…my fic just got over 1000 hits..KICKASS!**

The next time Aang opened his eyes he found himself looking at the clear blue sky. Blinking to clear his hazy vision, Aang could see that he was in Appa's saddle but he was also able to tell that the saddle wasn't attached to Appa. Aang was about to stand up but when he felt pressure against his shoulder Aang slowly turned his head and found Katara kneeling over him. Aang felt extreme happiness and guilt mix together as he remembered what he'd done. "You alright?" Aang asked in a weak and strained voice.

"Me?" Katara asked in complete surprise, "I'm more worried about you."

"What do you mean?"

"You've been unconscious for five hours." Katara said with her eyes full of concern, "I was worried."

Aang inhaled sharply at her words, _five hours_. He'd been unconscious for five hours, the conversation with Vontor only seemed like a few minutes. Vontor's words played through his mind and Aang found himself thinking about Vontor and wondering how exactly had he lost control of his Avatar Spirit.

"Aang?" Katara asked as she could see his gaze wandering aimlessly.

Pushing back his thoughts for now Aang turned to her and said, 'Yeah?"

"Something's bothering you isn't it."

"A few things are, yes." Aang replied.

"Tell me, please." Katara gently pressed as she wrapped her arms around him in a comforting embrace.

Aang's guilt squirmed up inside him like a worm when Katara came in contact with him and he found himself easing out of her embrace, "I'm sorry,' was all Aang was able to say as he slowly scurried away from her.

"What's wrong?" Katara asked in a hurt voice that made Aang want to punch himself for causing it.

"It…its my fault." Aang choked out

"What's your fault?"

"It's my fault that you got hurt in that last battle. I was distracted and I let my concentration slip. Then when I turned back around I saw you lying on the ground in a heap." Aang confessed his guilt in a rush that Katara had to strain to pick up his words. Aang turned to face her, completely expecting her to be angry at him.

Instead she merely regarded him curiously before saying, "It doesn't matter Aang, I healed myself after I woke up."

"It does matter," Aang protested weakly, "It could have been worse, a lot worse.'

"But it wasn't Aang, we all make mistakes, and besides I know that you won't let it happen again," Katara gently soothed.

Aang's guilt eased somewhat at Katara's words, he was grateful that she wasn't angry at him but although she was able or forgive him he wasn't sure he could forgive himself. Pushing the thought aside Aang finally took in his new surroundings.

They were buried deep inside a forest Aang guessed from the amount of trees. The surrounding foliage looked so thick that anyone following them on foot would need a machete to have any hope of following them. Aang appreciated that there was no possibility of a repeat incident on what happened this afternoon. Looking up at the sky Aang was surprised to see the darkness of night looming above him, countless stars shining brightly against the dark sky. Obviously Katara hadn't been exaggerating when she told him he'd been out for five hours.

Aang spotted a tent in the distance. The thought of sleep caused a yawn to stir up in him; a reminder that his body still felt drained from the battle and his entrance in the Avatar State. Aang gently walked over to the tent, Katara following in his wake. She seemed determined not to let him out of her sight until she was sure he was better.

Aang eased himself on the ground when he was inside the small green tent. Aang immediately closed his eyes and tried to find sleep despite the fact that he could hear Katara lying down beside him. Aang was asleep sometime later, exhaustion demanding his body rest before it fell apart.

_Aang found himself standing in an Earth Kingdom village; several buildings were clustered around a central plaza. A government house stood in the centre of the city, along with the Fire Nation's flag. Aang continued to look around, he felt adrenaline spike through his system as he could see Xylan's honour guards snap to attention at the village shore. Aang had to resist the impulse to engage them, something about this seemed odd to him._

_Aang's adrenaline spike turned to mind-numbing fear as he saw Katara being dragged onto the shore, her arms and legs were binded by metal shackles that clanged together when she moved. Aang took a step forward to free her but he found his legs rooted to the ground. Aang's eyes widened in fear as he saw Xylan's guards drag Katara into the city plaza, her feet creating trails in the dirt as she resisted. The guard commander drew his spear and stood beside Katara as he shouted, "This is a reminder to what happens to those who defy the Fire Lord." With that said, the commander took a few steps back before sending his spear piercing through Katara's heart. She screamed in pain as the guard pushed the spear in and out in quick succession. _

_Aang felt his eyes swimming with tears as Katara slumped to the ground. His grief quickly turned into a river of rage as he glanced around the village at the honour guards. Aang's swirling emotions gave way to his rising Avatar Spirit, its energy feeding off of Aang's emotions. For the first time since Aang had entered the Avatar State he welcomed his Avatar Spirit with no resistance. As Aang's perceptions turned into blurred images, his Avatar Spirit took over._

Abruptly, Aang's vision dissolved into a new scene. He found himself surrounded by fog, through the limited visibility he had Aang could see Avatar Vontor standing in front of him. "I was afraid this would happen," Vontor said with a sigh before continuing, "If you are to suppress your Avatar Spirit you will have to train yourself to let go, of everything you fear to lose."

Aang's confusion gradually turned to understanding as he realized that Vontor must have created the illusion to test Aang's abilities. As soon as Aang understood what had happened he registered Vontor's words of letting go and he immediately shouted, "No!" He wasn't about to repeat the mistake he had made at Ba Sing Se, the mistake that had dragged him down this path.

Vontor sighed again before continuing, "You have the same problem I did, but I am giving you the chance to learn from my mistakes." Finally, Vontor turned his gaze from the floor to look Aang directly in the eye. "When I made the mistake you did of forcing my seventh chukra to open, I began noticing how easily I would lose myself in the Avatar State. But though I was wary of my emotions I didn't know how to stop it. As time dragged on, my Avatar Spirit would become so susceptible to feeding off my emotions that it would respond to even the slightest feeling of anger or grief."

"I gradually came to the understanding that being wary of my emotions would allow me to keep my feelings in check, which in turn prevented my Avatar Spirit from reasserting itself. After a few months, I had finally mastered this technique and I lived with a constant watch over my emotions."

"Everything was fine, until my wife caught a disease. I was constantly caring for her, living for the day when she would recover and we would be happy again. Despite my confident outlook, I was constantly dreading the fact that she might die. After several weeks, I realized that my fears were unfounded; my wife was starting to recover from her illness. I kept telling myself that it was only a matter of time before she was back to her normal self. But when I woke up the next day, I found her body lying still as stone." Vontor paused in his story as a lone tear slipped from his eye, "She had passed away during the night. I had no advance warning, she had never shown any signs of dying during her recovery."

"When I discovered her corpse, I lost control. The barriers I had built to contain my Avatar Spirit crumbled, the image of my dead wife burned itself in my mind. My emotions swirled inside me like a typhoon, my Avatar Spirit awakened with a primal energy that sill haunts my memory, even in death. The power of my emotions was so great in magnitude that the destruction it unleashed left a permanent scar on the earth."

"I lived in the Fire Nation capital, the power I unleashed that day destroyed 1/3 of the city leaving a crater that still exists. The Royal Palace was built atop of the destruction."

Aang was silent for a few minutes as his brain took in this new information, "I thought that the Royal Palace was built on top of an extinct volcano." Aang thought as he remembered what the palace had looked like from the days when he had been allowed to enter the Fire Nation without fear of being captured.

"No, the crater had once been the top of a plateau." Vontor informed Aang, "Now you see what I mean, if you ignore my mistake you may well trigger something that you can't stop." Vontor said before he informed Aang of the consequences he had to endure, "After my perceptions returned to normal I was grief stricken at both the destruction I had unleashed as well as my wife's death. The people were afraid of me after that, they believed I had turned into the first malicious Avatar. I was exiled from the Fire Nation and I was forced to live in isolation for the rest of my life." Vontor finished with a heavy heart, Aang could see Vontor's eyes watering slightly as the painful memories forced their way to his conscious mind. "Take what I have told you and use the information well, your training sessions will be done randomly in ways such as this. They won't be done in the Spirit World, I will stop when you have mastered control over your dark-sided emotions. When that day comes you must continue your training on your own. I can only hope that you will be able to atone for the mistakes I made." With his last words said, Vontor threw his hood over hid face before turning away and vanishing into the fog. Aang felt the his vision swarming into blackness as the fog swirled from his vision…

**I just wanted to update before I got swarmed with school projects, so tell me what you think! I'm not gonna lie, reviews give me an incentive to write faster…..**


	15. Continuing Conquest

**I'm pretty proud of myself for getting this chapter done; despite of all the work I had to do. I noticed the last chapter was an all Aang chapter, so I made this one an all Xylan chapter. Hope you guys like it**

Vice Admiral Xylan stood on the deck of the Avenger as it sped for a rendezvous with the fleet. The calm waters reflected the sun's rays as the water parted before the accelerating boat. The peaceful scenery was a refreshing contrast from the rest of the commanders' moods, Xylan himself considered the failed capture of the Avatar to be unimportant in the grand scheme of things, a view the soldiers shared but one that the officers couldn't understand. The Avatar may have escaped Xylan for now but as the distant outline of the Leviathan came in to view he knew there would be another time.

Until then Xylan planned to continue his campaign and expand the empire. The Avatar may be the greatest threat but until Xylan knew where he would be, sending search parties after him would serve no purpose. If only Ozai knew that, the Fire Nation could, most likely, have won the war by now. Instead Fire Nation commanders had wasted resources in a futile attempt to chase a shadow. With great effort, Xylan pushed the thought form his mind, dwelling on the past served no purpose except to build his rage.

As soon as the Avenger was tethered to the Leviathan; Xylan marched, with his honour guard escort, to his quarters. As Xylan stepped through the small doorway into his quarters, his honour guards immediately broke off their escort to keep watch outside. Xylan grabbed an updated copy of the Fire Nation map and rolled the parchment out on his desk, scanning the map Xylan could see that half of the Earth Kingdom was under Fire Nation control.

General Onasx was leading a battalion of soldiers to take the remaining cities scattered too far inland for the Fire Navy to offer assistance. The only obvious target left to strike at was the Northern Water Tribe. Xylan saw such a strike as an opportunity to ensure the loyalty of the Eastern Fleet and to finally overthrow Ozai. From there, Xylan could forge the empire Fire Lord Sozin had foreseen so many years ago.

"Guard," Xylan said as he continued to scan the map. A second later an honour guard stepped inside, snapping to attention with his spear at the ready. "Tell Captain Vai I want the fleet to set a course for the North Pole." Xylan ordered the guard without glancing from the map.

"Right away, Admiral." The guard responded before marching out of the room.

Xylan continued to study the map, he was determined to succeed where Admiral Zhou had failed. Although Zhou's tactic of confronting the Water Tribe head on had come close to succeeding Xylan believed that he would have ultimately failed, even if he hadn't trifled with the spirits. Xylan smiled as a plan began to take shape in his mind, it was a gamble but if it succeeded than there was nothing that could stop Vice Admiral Xylan from, not only conquering another settlement, but he would ultimately be able establish a new system of government in the Fire Nation.

Vice Admiral Xylan stood by a large map in his quarters, while the various high ranking commanders of his fleet sat clustered around it, along with a few of Xylan's hand picked soldiers and Ossuna. Unlike most commanders, Xylan preferred to hear comments from all of his men, both the officers and those from the enlisted ranks. The Ossuna stood in the back while Xylan's honour guards stood by the doorway; although they were onboard the Leviathan the guards remained constantly vigilant.

Xylan paced up and down the rows of seated soldiers as he began to reveal his plan. "With General Onasx conquering the remaining Earth Kingdom cities and with the rest of the Fire Navy ferrying supplies to occupied cities there is only one target of opportunity remaining, the Northern Water Tribe." Xylan paused as several soldiers grimaced, the memory of Zhou's defeat still hung in their minds. "Though we undoubtedly outnumber our enemy we will not be charging straight in. Deception will be our greatest weapon."

Coming to a stop at the map glued to the wall, Xylan pointed to a point approximately five kilometres away from the city. "The fleet will stop here. Engine modifications will be conducted on the Admonitor. Once they are complete, the Admonitor will proceed toward the city with a skeleton crew," Xylan said with a nod toward Captain Tierce. "Once you are there Captain, you will have to create a tale of how you deserted the Fire Nation."

Tierce adopted a shocked expression as he looked at Xylan and said, "With all due respect Admiral, I don't believe that would work." A few of the commanders nodded in agreement.

"They'll be suspicious, of course." Xylan continued as if he'd been expecting the comment all along. "But the skeleton crew will serve to verify your claims, as will the engine modifications. To all outward appearances, you will have sustained engine damage in your flight from Fire Nation battleships." Xylan adopted a cold gaze as he looked at Tierce and said, "The only variable unaccounted for is how good your story is."

Captain Tierce visibly swallowed, "Yes, sir," Tierce choked out in reply.

Xylan nodded before turning to Ossuna Commander Disra, "Commander, your squad will being hiding onboard the ship."

"Admiral," one of Xylan's soldiers said, "Assuming this plan works, I still don't see how we conquer the city."

Xylan brought his gaze down on the soldiers as he spoke, "When Captain Tierce and his crew are allowed inside the city, the Ossuna will load a patrol boat to the brim with blasting jelly. They'll ignite a trail of the explosive before abandoning ship. As soon as the boat passes into the wall, the explosives will detonate, destroying their fortifications. At which time, patrol boats will storm the breach and the city will fall!" Xylan said as he raised his voice on his last three words.

Xylan's troops found his charismatic nature intensely inspiring and they let out cheers of approval that echoed within Xylan's quarters.

Captain Tierce gazed out from the _Admonitor_ onto the ocean that seemed to stretch out before him as he gripped the railing on the observation tower. Tierce felt uneasy about the Admiral's plan, Tierce respected the Admiral's judgement but he couldn't help but feel that the admiral was making a dangerous gamble. Putting those thoughts out of his mind, Tierce looked at the progress report from the engineers. The Admiral's engine modifications were proceeding on schedule, Tierce couldn't help but marvel at the Admiral's design. Traditionally, the battleships smokestacks would act as nothing more than exhaust ports, but with the Admiral's modifications, extra holes would be drilled into the side. The holes would be stuffed with coal and then set on fire. Even from a close inspection, it would appear as if the engines had been damaged from Xylan's fleet as Tierce had fled.

Glancing at the engineer's report again Tierce knew that if his defection story was good enough there was no doubt in his mind that the water tribe would buy this defection plan of Xylan's. When that happened, there was nothing that could stop there city from finally falling to the Fire Nation, not even the Avatar.

"Captain, the engineers report that the modifications are complete," Ensign Xerrol reported from his seat at the front of the bridge.

"Understood," Tierce replied, "Signal the Leviathan that we are ready to proceed."

"Yes, sir." Xerrol responded before starting the _Admonitor_'s engines, the signal to the rest of the fleet that they were ready to go. A minute later the Levithan's engines ignited as well, a minute later the rest of the fleet had their engines powered up and it wasn't long before Xylan's fleet accelerated toward the North Pole.

The _Admonitor_ pulled ahead of the other battleships as they halted at their destination. As the _Admonitor_ continued pressing forward, images engulfed Tierce's mind as he recalled how close Zhou had come to conquering the Northern Water Tribe. Privately, Tierce wondered if Admiral Xylan was attacking the North Pole out of a sense of professional pride, perhaps to prove to both himself and the rest of the fleet that he was a better commander than Admiral Zhou; though as far as Tierce was concerned, he had proved that a dozen times over.

Noticing that the _Admonitor_ was close to crossing into Water Tribe waters, Tierce turned to his right man, Lieutenant Urai, on the bridge. "Bring the engine modifications online and slow to 1/3 propulsion," Tierce barked.

"Yes, sir!" Urai said as he began relaying Tierce's command to the navigations officer. After Urai had finished he stepped beside Tierce, "Do you think the Admiral's plan will work?"

Captain Tierce continued to gaze ahead as he replied, "In situations such as this, we have no option but to trust in Xylan's strategic insight."

Urai nodded as he returned to his post with an uncomfortable feeling looming over him as he realized that Tierce hadn't actually answered his question.

"Captain, we're being surrounded by water bending ships", Xerrol reported nervously from his post, "they're deployed in their traditional ambush configuration."

"Very good Ensign," Captain Tierce reported calmly, though on the inside his heart was racing with fear, this was the moment of truth. "Lieutenant," Tierce said as he turned to Urai, "inform the water benders that we surrender, and ask them to come aboard so I can explain." Tierce briskly ordered.

"On it sir." Urai saluted before swiftly turning and sprinting to the main deck.

Moments later, after Urai had displayed white flags of surrender to the water benders, they had agreed to come aboard. But as Tierce stepped onto the main deck to meet the their leader it was clear that he didn't believe their claim. A dozen water benders stood as bodyguards for their leader who introduced himself as Commander Tregoda. "Its an honour to meet you commander," Tierce lied as he bowed in response, "I'm Captain Tierce and I have come to ask for asylum."

Several of the water benders adopted shocked expressions, which were quickly replaced by suspicion. "So you've deserted?" Tregoda asked with clear disbelief, "Tell me why."

Inwardly, Tierce had to calm his racing mind, he'd prepared his story well but he still had his doubts. "Well I've had my doubts about the Fire Navy for a while," Tierce sighed as he pretended to speak with genuine sadness. "But after Vice Admiral Xylan ordered us to burn an Earth Kingdom outpost to the ground I couldn't take the chaos anymore." Tierce continued to lie with genuine ease, "After I learned that there were civilians in there I knew it was time to leave. So at night, after we went back to a dock for repairs, I took the members of my crew who I knew felt the same way and we attempted to slip out without a sound." Tierce stopped as he pointed to the burning smokestack, "But as you can see, things didn't go as smoothly as I'd hoped. A few of Xylan's ships chased us out of the harbour. Luckily for us, it was very foggy that night and we were able to lose them by slipping into it."

Tierce finished his story and looked at Tregoda expectantly. Tregoda continued to stare at him, as if trying to read his soul. After a few seconds of lingering silence, Tregoda spoke, "Very well, although I can't grant your request, the chieftain will need to hear this." Tregoda looked Tierce in the eye and said, "Your ship will have to be left behind."

Tierce breathed a silent sigh of relief, this plan was already working perfectly and although Tierce was glad that his part was almost over he knew it wouldn't be natural if he immediately agreed to abandon ship. So Tierce and Tregoda argued about it for a minute, with Tierce acting reluctant at leaving his ship but agreeing to leave none the less.

As soon as the water benders left the _Admonitor_ Tierce turned to Urai and said, "Inform the Ossuna to proceed with the rest of the operation."

Urai gave him a satisfied smile as he realized how easily the water benders had been convinced, "Easily done." Urai replied.

Ossuna Commander Disra calmly stood on the deck of the patrol boat. Now that Captain Tierce had convinced the waterbenders, it wouldn't be long before this plan succeeded. The entire crew of the _Admonitor_ had effectively abandoned ship and the 70 crew men had been divided into five patrol boats. The result was an extremely tight fit but Disra didn't plan on staying in the patrol boat long.

While the _Admonitor_ had been traveling to the North Pole, Disra had ordered his men to place the blasting jelly inside the patrol boat they were currently standing on, effectively turning the boat into a huge bomb. As the ship glided toward the outer wall, Disra told his men to get ready to jump. The outer wall continued to expand in Disra's vision as the ship came closer, as soon as the water benders opened a section of their wall. Disra ordered the patrol boat to full speed. As the boat shot toward the wall, the water benders let out cries of surprise as they tried to stop the boat by bending ice. Disra let out a grim smile, the conquest of their city was imminent.

As soon as the boat cleared the wall the Ossuna abandoned ship, Disra followed them after he light the spark of blasting jelly. Disra had barley jumped into the water when the patrol boat exploded with a thunderous crack. The force of the explosion was so great that an entire section of the wall was completely blown apart, sending giant blocks of ice and Water Tribe soldiers into the freezing water. The water tribe soldiers screamed as their bodies shot into the air, commanders let out rallying cries as they attempted to prepare a defence for the inevitable follow-through attack.

All the while Commander Disra and the seventy other soldiers from the _Admonitor_ screamed war cries as they met water tribe resistance head-on.

Vice Admiral Xylan didn't even flinch when the ear-splitting explosion echoed across the bay. The fire from the explosion grew to become a tornado as it swirled around the detonation. Xylan turned to Captain Vai with a hint of a smile across his face as he said, "Load the catapults and order the advance."

"Yes, sir." Vai responded

As soon as the order was given, an entire battalion of fire benders was ready to lay waste to the city. Fifty patrol ships accelerated toward one of the last obstacles to total victory. Fire benders, Ossuna, and regular troops sat on the edge of their ships, poised to attack. Their comrades from the Admonitor had already engaged the enemy, none of them wanted to miss the fun.

**I'm making this a two part series, mainly because I need to come up with ideas for the other half. Make sure you guys review, Three reviews on this chapter would definitely make my day. (Just a side note)**


	16. Storm the Front

I**I don't know about you guys, but I'm starting to feel that the quality of my writing is starting to slip. Hopefully this chapter doesn't give you that feeling, but it certainly gives it to me.**

**Review Response:**

**Verystrangest: Thx for the comment. As to your question, I take it my writing wasn't very clear. The **_**Admonitor**_** was abandoned by the Fire Nation crew in order to proceed with the rest of Xylan's plan. The boats I was referring to are the small patrol boats (think of the small ship Zuko would use). Those ships are the ones that were responsible for blowing the water tribe's wall sky high. Hope that clears things up for you. **

Sergeant Zann ran with the rest of his platoon as they stormed through the wide breach in the Northern Water tribe's wall. Despite the rallying cries coming from Water tribe commanders, only a small handful of soldiers were forming a phalanx position; the rest were routing from the wall. The water tribe warriors at the wall interlocked shields and pointed their spears toward the charging Fire Nation soldiers. The spears pierced through fire bender armour and flesh as the unsuspecting benders ran right into the sharpened spears.

Ossuna Commander Disra and his squad drew their swords as they engaged the enemy. Some of the water tribe soldiers who had been catapulted into the air from the explosion had managed to survive and they were attempting to rejoin their comrades. A few quick stabs from the Ossuna's swords served to counteract that intention. Disra glanced at the breached wall to see troops charging in a futile attempt to break the water bender's position.

Instantly Disra realized that if the water benders were able to keep holding their position, it was likely that the soldiers who had routed from the wall would return. Unfastening the grappling hook attached to the back of his armour, Disra motioned for his squad to do the same as he pointed to the side of the wall and shouted, "Scale the wall!"

Several choruses of acknowledgment rang out from Disra's squad as they twirled the hooks before tossing them over the side of the wall. Pulling on the rope to make sure it was securely attached, Disra grabbed onto the rope and started his assent.

Squinting through the telescope on the Leviathan's observation tower, Vice Admiral Xylan could see that the warriors onboard the patrol boats were close to joining the fight. Gazing at the breach in the wall, Xylan could see water tribe soldiers standing their ground as wave after wave of fire benders were beaten back. Vice Admiral Xylan felt a flash of anger at the officer's fool-hardy tactics. The lives of good soldiers were being wasted as more fire nation soldiers were ordered to the frontlines.

Xylan brought his eyes away from the unfolding battle to look at Captain Vai, "Captain, send a hawk to inform all soldiers to pull back to their ships and inform all batteries to standby."

Captain Vai gave a nod in acknowledgement before marching off to obey. Xylan continued to watch the fierce battle.

Water tribe soldiers groaned from the exertion of beating back fire nation troops. The enemy outnumbered them to a great extent and the fatigue of constant fighting was wearing down their endurance. As another wave of fire nation soldiers charged their position, water warriors grunted as the fire nation troops tried to break their formation with sheer weight. Positioning their spears through the side notches of their shields, the water tribe warriors thrusted them out toward their enemy, piercing their amour and laying waste to the opposition as another pile of bodies began to form up around them.

"Front men, Push!" the water tribe commander, Tregoda, ordered from the rear. His men gave a grunt of acknowledgment before pushing with all their might toward their target. The unexpected offensive caught the last remnants of the fire nation's charge off guard and they quickly fell before several well placed spear strikes.

Lieutenant Urai was about to order another charge on the water tribe's position when a red hawk swooped from the cloudy sky and landed on Urai's outstretched arm. Puling the message from the bird's bag, Urai was surprised that Vice Admiral Xylan would order a retreat; still orders were orders. Cupping his hands over his mouth, Urai let out a shout that echoed across the North Pole, "All units, fall back! Fall back!" Several troops were surprised but they did as they were told, marching double time back to patrol boats from the _Admonitor_.

Commander Tregoda could see the fire nation retreating and he was instantly proud of his men for holding their ground and defending their home, despite the overwhelming odds. One of his soldiers noticed too, pointing to the retreating troops he shouted victoriously, "They're falling back. We won!" Cheers rang out from the exhausted warriors as they believed themselves victorious.

"Admiral, Lieutenant Urai reports that your orders have been carried out." Captain Vai reported to Xylan as he stepped by his side.

"Order all the Leviathan's batteries to fire." Xylan said as he gazed out at the cheering water tribe warriors, rage built up inside of Xylan as he thought of the troops he had lost "Wipe them out. All of them." Xylan spoke with a coldness in his voice that could have rivalled the temperature of the North Pole itself.

"With pleasure." Vai responded in a grim tone, Xylan had no doubt that Vai had had the same thoughts.

"Ignite." The Leviathan's artillery coordinator called to his crew. Fire benders acknowledged the order by setting the catapult's boulders ablaze. Gazing out at their target the coordinator pointed to the water tribe warriors as he shouted, "Launch!"

Immediately, the catapults responded by unleashing a barrage of fireballs.

"Watch out!" A water tribe soldier shouted in horror as he pointed up into the sky.

"Shields up!" Tregoda barked, knowing that there was no time to fall back out of range. In a flash the warriors had reformed their phalanx formation, their blue shields were their only hope of protection.

The fireballs continued their fast plummet as the lure of gravity urged them to accelerate toward the ground. The fireballs closed the distance to their target until they impacted with a concussive force, blasting apart the water tribe's formation.

"I need a healer over here!" Tregoda shouted as he stood over a severely injured water bender. It wasn't long before another barrage followed the first, putting an end to both Tregoda and his men.

By now the combined assault force from the fleet had arrived at the wall, commanders began hurrying their troops forward. Sergeant Zann joined up with his unit, a few of his friends had been killed by the water tribe warriors and Zann was determined to pay them back ten fold. "Units, Advance!" Zann shouted from the head of the column.

Several choruses of aye ayes rang out from the troops as they stormed the city, stepping over the dead bodies of Tregoda and his men as they made their way away from the wall and toward the palace.

Rounding a corner to put the palace in view Zann was slightly surprised to see a garrison of water tribe warriors and benders poised for combat, ready to fight to the death. Zann was more than willing to grant their wish. Putting his helmet back on, Zann pointed at the enemy and shouted, "Advance, standard line!"

Without even checking to see if his unit was following, Zann ran straight for the nearest water bender. Before the bender even had a chance to bend his element, Zann sent a stream of fire out to engulf his target, ending his life in a matter of seconds. As the water benders tightened their formation, fire nation soldiers charged their position. In that moment, two elements would meet in a small skirmish that would determine the outcome of the entire battle. Both sides knew this, and they both fought with an equal savagery, with neither side giving ground.

Commander Disra and his Ossuna squad silently made their way toward the palace in the central plaza. The sound of a full scale engagement was deafening as Disra could hear metal clanging together in a reverberating sound as melee combat became the primary method of attack. From his position at the top of an large archway, Disra could see the deployment patterns of both sides, although the Fire Nation vastly outnumbered their foes, the water tribe troops were fighting with a ferocity that rivalled that of the fiercest animal. Knowing that both sides were too focused on each other to look around Disra was able to find a path that would take him behind the water nation. Motioning for his quad to follow, the Ossuna reached the side of the palace before using their grappling hooks to scale the building.

"All units over here!" Zann shouted above the chaos of battle as he gestured towards the water tribe's now open flank, "Let's go, Let's go, Let's go!" Zann said in rapid succession as he ran into battle.

Chaos loomed over both sides as the skirmish turned into a series of one on one duels, both sides fought less like an army and more like independent and fierce warriors. Sergeant Zann attacked the water tribe's open flank with a ferocity bordering on primal savagery. Zann sent fire out to any target who was wearing the wrong colours. A minute later, Zann's unit caught up with him and the fire nation was finally able to gain some ground. The water benders began a slow retreat as they backed up the grand staircase leading to the palace.

Commander Disra and his squad quickly ascended the side of the palace. Disra's stealth instincts screamed at him to find some cover, so he ran to the nearest secluded area he could find and melted into the shadows. Creeping alongside the wall of the palace, Disra hugged the icy wall as he slowly crept forward, peeking around the corner he could see the water tribe soldiers retreating to a more defensible location. Disra raised his fist to signal his men to halt, drawing out his sword, Disra pointed to the water tribe officers. His men nodded as they silently crept up behind their enemies.

As soon as they were in position, Disra gave his squad a small nod before they, simultaneously, drew back their swords and plunged the sharp blades into the spines of their targets.

The orders the commanders had been shouting to their men turned into grunts of pain as they fell to their knees before collapsing, their bodies' motion carrying them down the palace staircase. Several water tribe soldiers turned around in surprise, a feeling quickly replaced by fear as they saw the black-armoured Ossuna marching toward them with swords out-stretched.

The death of the enemies' officers left them disorganized and on the verge of panic. Despite their feelings of bitter defeat, the water tribe troops fought to the very end. As soon as Sergeant Zann killed the last water tribe warrior he climbed to the top of the staircase and shouted, "All out victors!" His voice echoed across the entire battle zone.

His troops let out cheers that shook the very foundation of the water tribe city. Another nation had been conquered by the Fire Nation, Zann only perceived it as a matter of time before every citizen lived under Fire Nation rule.

**That's all I could think of putting in this chapter. Tell me what you guys think, I'm honestly getting the feeling I'm not doing so well with my fic anymore.**


	17. Revaluation

**I know, I know, short chapter. I only plan on making three more chapters for this story and then it's done. I'll make the next one short like this one but the last two will be long-ass chapters. Don't scream at your computer though, I'll be making a sequel to this fic. Just calm down...slow deep breaths...there you go. **

**Review Responses:**

**that anonymous guy: Thanks for the support, I appreciate it. I guess I was just thinking that the ending kinda sucked.**

**verystrangest: I agree that, strategically speaking, its virtually impossible to mount a huge invasion force, take it into enemy territory and not have spies give away your troop's movement. But I'm just goin' by what was in the show, basically how Admiral Zhou was able to take hundreds of ships to the North Pole and suprise the water tribe. It's basically the same thing, except the city was conquered, Xylan style! WHOO!**

**cruciolicous****: thanks for the suggestions, I've actually been having the same thoughts regarding a lack of description. Good to know I'm not just making things up.**

* * *

Aang opened his eyes in shock as sweat beaded down his face, Avatar Vontor's words still rang in his mind. Aang could almost see Vontor losing control of his Avatar Spirit and channelling all of his power to a single point. A shiver racked Aang's body as he pictured the power that Vontor must have unleashed. Glancing at Katara's sleeping figure next to him, Aang wondered how something so terrifying could result from something so wonderful. Gently moving Katara's arm away from his chest, Aang slowly shuffled away from her and walked out into the cold, dark night.

Aang slowly walked around the forest clearing as he gathered his thoughts. Aang desperately wanted to control his Avatar Spirit, but the thought of letting Katara go was something he couldn't bear to even think about, let alone act upon. Aang came to a stop next to a large boulder. He climbed on top of the rock and layed down on his back, his gaze lingering on the stars shining brightly against the pitch black sky.

Despite the turmoil of emotions swirling in his mind, Aang felt somewhat peaceful as he continued to gaze at the stars.

"Aang?" A voice asked that would normally bring instant calm over Aang, but now it brought back all of the fears he had tried to forget.

Aang looked down from the boulder to see Katara gazing up at him. Try as he might to respond, Aang was torn between following Vontor's instruction or explaining everything he had just been through. As much as it hurt Aang, he knew he would have to start detaching himself from Katara; if only to prevent a future loss of control with his Avatar Spirit. Aang put on a fake smile before saying, "Nothing, I just couldn't sleep."

Katara frowned as soon as he spoke, it was obvious that he was hiding something from her. "What's wrong, Aang?"

Aang visibly swallowed, but he tried his best to stand by his decision. "Nothing's wrong Katara, I just…feel restless."

Aang gazed up at her expecting her to continue arguing, but to his surprise she merely said, "Oh. Maybe I can help you."

"How?" Was all Aang said.

In answer Katara reached her hand out toward Aang. Not being able to resist, Aang climbed off the boulder and took her hand. Katara smiled as she began leading Aang back to the tent. Aang layed down on the soft, thick blanket in the tent with Katara. She draped her arm over him as she whispered, "Goodnight, Aang."

"Goodnight," was all Aang said in reply as he realized that he would have to slowly let go of Katara. It would break his heart to do it, but if that's what it would take to control his Avatar Spirit and prevent an accident; then that's what Aang would do.

* * *

Vice Admiral Xylan gazed at the Fire Nation symbols displayed in his quarters, as well as collective artifacts from the other three nations. Xylan had studied the artifacts intently, and in doing so he had gained knowledge about his enemies. And Xylan knew that in order to defeat your opponent, you must first know something about them.

The sound of approaching footsteps alerted Xylan that Lieutenant Urai was responding to his summons. "You sent for me, sir?"

Admiral Xylan ignored Urai for the moment, holding his gaze on the artifacts.

"Admiral?" Urai responded with confusion.

"Tell me Lieutenant, do you know the difference between a commander and a soldier?"

Urai figured that was pretty obvious but he decided to play it safe, "No, sir."

"A soldier obeys orders and wins battles, commanders develop the strategies necessary to ensure that victory can be achieved through minimal losses. Which one are you Lieutenant?"

"A commander, sir." Urai responded with a hint of pride in his voice.

For the first time since this conversation started, Xylan turned around and fixated his yellow eyes on Urai. "Then tell me Lieutenant, would you deem it acceptable for a commander to lose two entire platoons of loyal veteran soldiers against a small enemy force."

Urai finally knew where this was going and he tried to swallow the lump that had formed in his throat, "No sir, its not."

"Then give me a reason," Xylan responded coldy, "why I shouldn't kill you where you stand."

"I…I—" Urai struggled to find words, "That was my first time as a ground commander, sir." Urai responded as his skin turned pale.

To his surprise, Xylan didn't strike him down right there as he feared. Instead Xylan continued to stare at Urai as he said, "I see, I suppose that the loss of those troops is as much your fault as it is mine. I should have chosen an experienced commander to accompany you. Still," Xylan continued, "the fact remains that two platoons were vanquished under your command. As such, you will be demoted down to Second Lieutenant. Don't fail me again." Xylan responded as he stared at Urai with his unwavering gaze.

"Yes, sir," Urai said in response to his demotion. "I won't fail again."

"Good, you are dismissed."

Urai acknowledged with a nod before scurrying out of the Admiral's quarters.

Vice Admiral Xylan watched Urai leave before shifting his gaze toward the world map plastered to the gray metal wall. _Where are you_, Xylan thought as he gazed at the map. The Avatar had yet to be spotted and Xylan found it disturbing that his spies had yet to report any useful information.

Pushing the Avatar out of his mind, Xylan concentrated on setting his plans in motion. Reports from his defilers aboard the Eastern Fleet made it clear that his victory at the North Pole had secured their loyalty. The last obstacle preventing Xylan from initiating Directive 01 had been removed. All that remained was the right time to turn the Fire Nation's military against the royal family and assume supreme command.

And as Xylan gazed at the map again he knew that such a day was fast approaching.

* * *

**Like I said guys, only three more chapters remaining. I plan on making Chapter 19 4,000 words or so and then having the last one 5,000 words long. This way I can get started on my sequel, because I'm literally twitching with anticipation. I've mapped everthing out and it has such a good plot, even a pessimist would have a good view toward it. Anyway only thing left for you guys to do now is..oh I don't know...REVIEW. Or you can do somethign else for three hours and then review. As long as you review, then I'm happy. After all we don't want the author unhappy, right?**


	18. Confrontation

**This might be the shortest chapter ever...yeah. Anyway this is an all Aang chapter, don't worry Xylan is in the last two for sure. **

**Review Response**

**MelInuLover****: No I don't watch Avatar everyday haha..if I did that I'd have no interests in life...how boring. As to how its similar to the show, well that's just because I have a reallly good memory. I can memorize dialogue from pretty much just watching it the first time. And for getting my sequel out quickly, are you telling me that this story no longer entertains you?**

* * *

Aang gazed at the fire he had just created at their campsite, the heat against his face was a welcome feeling from the cold night. It had been two days since he had decided to slowly let go of Katara and the ache he felt in his heart seemed to multiply with each passing minute in her absence. He had started talking to her less, saying a sentence or two at most. Those only came from the rare times when he would cease his training sessions long enough to rest. In fact, he spent less time around anyone lately; almost all of Aang's days were spent practicing with all four elements.

Aang sighed as he thought of Katara's disappointed expression when he had declined her offer for a walk through the forest. Her eyes had given away her hurt feelings and her extreme sadness. It seemed to Aang as if his Avatar side was forcing him to stick by his decision. When he wanted to beg for her forgiveness or apologize at his lack of courtesy, his Avatar side would force itself to the top and speak with an emotionless voice that Aang found highly disturbing.

Aang was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn't detect Katara's presence as she sat down beside him. At least he didn't until she asked in a voice that was barley audible, "Did I do something wrong?"

Aang almost jumped in surprise at the unexpected dialogue but he managed to regain his composure and ask, "what?"

"Did I do something wrong?" Katara repeated herself in the same low whisper.

Aang knew she referring to his recent behaviour towards her and he grimaced as he realized there was no way he could avoid her question. "No, you didn't do anything wrong. Why would you ask?" Aang hoped that his last question would make her shrug and avoid the question, just as he had done when Katara had posed the same question in response to his query about her behaviour toward Hakoda so many days ago.

"You've been avoiding me a lot lately, in fact the most time we even spend together is when we're asleep."

Aang felt a fresh pang of guilt course through him as Katara's voice sounded strained with the effort of holding back tears. "Not it's nothing you did Katara," Aang rushed out his explanation. "It's just…I…' Aang trailed off in his sentence as he stumbled over words, how was he supposed to tell her this?

"It's just you…" Katara urged as she spoke with a voice that resembled her former strength, she was obviously happy that Aang wasn't angry at her but she was fearful that Aang was going to say that he didn't feel anything for her anymore.

"I'm supposed… we can't…I'm trying to say that I can't…be...with…be with you anymore." Aang felt like his heart might explode from such pain, he felt as if he had taken his hand and placed into the roaring flames in front of him.

"What?" Katara asked in a quiet whisper. She couldn't belief Aang had just said that.

"I'm sorry Katara, but I have no choice."

Aang spoke in a hurt tone that made it clear to Katara that it wasn't any easier on him that it was on her and that made her extremely confused. "Why are you doing this, Aang?" Katara gently tried to guage his reasoning behind his decision.

"It's the only way to prevent me from losing control." Aang silently confessed.

"I don't understand," was all Katara was able to say as Aang's statements got more confusing to her by the second.

"It's the only way for me to be able to suppress my Avatar Spirit."

"Why would you need to suppress your Avatar Spirit?"

"When we were all captured on Xylan's flagship, I did something to bring on the Avatar State," Aang said as he stared at the fire, "And there were…complications."

"Complications?" Katara asked

"I was told that I was more susceptible to losing control from my emotions. That if I wasn't careful, people could get hurt. I don't want that to happen."

"What does that have to do with me?" Katara asked, seeking confirmation for something she already perceived as true.

"Well, when we were ambushed by that Fire Nation strike team and when you were hurt I lost control." Aang said as he shut his eyes from the painful memory, "I was so angry, it was like my perceptions were drowning in an ocean. And from the depths of that ocean, a monster was rising to the surface. I wanted to avenge your injuries, I wanted to kill them all." Aang said as his buried guilt bursted up into his conscious mind.

Katara wrapped her arms around Aang in a comforting embrace as he continued, "I was told that if I wanted to prevent a future loss of control, I would have to detach myself from the people I was afraid to lose."

"Aang," Katara said in a comforting voice, "even if you didn't spend as much time around me do you think that you're feelings would vanish?"

"No," Aang admitted, "but I can't afford to lose control. I have to do something. There's a chance that I could hurt a lot of people, maybe even do something worse." Aang said as a shudder racked his body at his last thought.

"Aang, I've got a solution."

"What's that?" Aang asked with clear disbelief

"First, you have to promise me something."

"Anything." Aang replied with absolutely no hesitation, something that brought a smile to Katara's face.

Taking Aang's hand in hers and forcing him to turn and look her in the eyes she said, "Promise me that you'll control your feelings when we're out on the battlefield."

Despite the fact that Aang knew he could make no guarantee, he returned Katara's steadfast gaze and sealed his promise to her.

"Then you have nothing to worry about." Katara said as she rest her head against his shoulder. Katara's words had eased Aang's dilemma somewhat but there was still a quiet fear in the back of his mind that refused to be dissuaded. But As Aang looked at Katara again, he pushed the fear aside, simply enjoying this moment.

* * *

**Since I still haven't gotten any more reviews..well I'm just letting you guys know that I'm taking my sweet time. So I've only got 287 words done for chapter 19. So at this rate, the next chapter will be out in...oh...like...14 more days. Is that too slow? Well you guys know how to make it happen faster...**


	19. A Welcome Discovery

**I know I said that Chapter 19 was gonna have 4000 or so words but I think it would be better if I left the rest of that for the last chapter. Don't let me down for reviews on this chapter guys...I must say that I was dissappointed with the last two... :( **

**Review Response:**

**MelInuLover****: Thanks for the both the comment and the fact that you wrote a review. As to your comment about my last reveiw response I was just messing with you... **

**OH and If you haven't already, you should check the other story I posted here...go to my profile and check it out! **

* * *

A rustling in the forest woke Aang from his peaceful slumber by the fire. Aang looked around in alarm but just as he was about to react in some way. Two figures emerged out of the dense forest and out within Aang's vicinity. The two people looked like soldiers; they wore a heavy layered armour with slashes of green paint for camouflage. A sword sheathed around their backs completed their uniform. But although their uniform was that of a soldier, their demeanour was that of a scout, their eyes seemed to take in the surroundings in an instant and they were swift on their feet.

The scouts turned toward Aang and then quickly darted toward him. One of them took another step toward Aang and said, "Avatar, we're here to provide an escort. I suggest you come with us."

Although his words implied it was a request, the way he spoke led Aang to believe that it was quite the opposite.

"What about my friends?" Aang said as he gestured with his hand around the campsite.

"They'll have to wait," the scout replied briskly, "For now this only concerns the Avatar."

Aang stared into the scout's eyes, searching for something that might indicate a trap. The scout was either being truthful or was an expert at concealing his thoughts. Knowing there was only one way to find out, Aang gently placed Katara's still sleeping form away from his shoulder and down on a patch of grass.

Aang signalled that he was ready and the scouts led him into the dense forest, despite the thick foliage the scouts were able to proceed at a brisk pace; leaving Aang to have to resort to air bending to keep up.

After a few minutes of jogging the three emerged out of the forest and toward the shore. Out of the shore stretched the clear blue water of a large lake, and docked close to the shore was a small boat. The boat's hull was engraved with Earth Kingdom markings and the deck was equipped with a small sail.

Aang and his escort climbed aboard and the two immediately let the boat sail to a nearby island. After a few minutes Aang couldn't take the silence anymore, "Where are you taking me?" he asked

One of the scouts turned to look at him, "To a place that will give us the ability to end this war." The scout replied with a slight smile.

Aang was both intrigued and puzzled by this information and although questions began racing through his mind, he held his tongue with the thought that his questions would be answered shortly.

The boat continued sailing until it was a mere five meters from a large rocky plateau that covered 60 percent of an island. As the boats came to a stop the scouts used earth bending to open up a tunnel right into the heart of the plateau. Work lights illuminated the entry way and Aang was surprised to find that there was water inside the plateau. The small ship accelerated inside and Aang could hear the sounds of construction echoing from deeper inside.

As the small boat cleared the tunnel area and ventured into what best resembled a large flooded cavern, Aang felt his mouth gape open in amazement. There were rows upon rows of newly constructed Earth Kingdom ships. The battleships were as tall as any Fire Navy ship, they were roughly diamond in shape, with stone armour layed out on top of a wooden frame. Massive trebuchets were the Earth Kingdom's newest armament. They were loaded with giant stone blocks that could only be loaded by earth benders.

Workers ran to and fro on a labyrinth of wooden platforms as they moved supplies to ships that were under construction.

"The Fire Nation thinks they've destroyed our navy." One of the scouts suddenly spoke from behind Aang as their boat descended further into the cavern-like area. "But from the ashes of destruction, a new fleet will rise to take the Fire Nation by surprise."

Aang could only nod in agreement as his eyes continued to sweep around the cavern.

* * *

"Admiral?" Captain Vai called as he stepped into the Admiral's chambers, having to watch his step since the room's only source of illumination was the group of candles clustered around the Admiral.

"Your report, Captain," Xylan said as he continued his meditation from the far corner of the room.

"Reports from General Onasx indicate that a steady stream of supplies are leaving Earth Kingdom territory."

"Their destination, Captain?" Xylan asked

"Unknown, Admiral." Vai responded

"Interesting. Your conclusion, Captain?"

Vai was a little surprised that the Admiral would want his opinion but he quickly shook it off and said, "I would surmise that the enemy is attempting to rebuild their forces, sir."

"My thoughts exactly Captain. Move the fleet in to blockade the Earth Kingdom ports, detain _any_ enemy ships travelling and inspect them thoroughly. There's something going on here and we need to find out what." Xylan ordered while he still conducted his meditation.

"Yes, sir." Captain Vai said as he turned to head out of the door.

"Admiral?" A voice responded through the newly installed COM system in Xylan's quarters. Snapping out of his meditative trance, Xylan slapped his palm down on the call button and said, "This is Xylan, report."

"I'm sorry to disturb you Admiral but Captain Vai reports that the _Leviathan_ has detained a suspicious freighter. He is requesting orders."

"Tell him to prepare for my arrival," Xylan responded, "I will deal with this myself."

"Yes, sir." The officer acknowledged the order before cutting the channel.

Pulling on his red cloak, Xylan moved out of his quarters, his honour guards immediately following in his wake. Xylan stepped out onto the main deck to find three men donned in merchant outfits, their expressions clearly indicating that they were annoyed at this delay. Captain Vai turned to the sound of approaching footsteps, upon seeing the Vice Admiral, Vai snapped to attention and shouted, "Admiral on deck!"

Xylan stepped to Vai's side and said, "At ease Captain, report."

"These three were detained as they attempted to run the blockade, sir." Captain Vai responded as he relaxed his posture.

Xylan continued to size them up as he said, "I see and why would merchants attempt to run a blockade?"

"Merchants who are on a tight schedule," one of them responded.

As Xylan looked at the merchant, intuition gave him the indication that this wasn't what it appeared to be. "You're not merchants," Xylan stated flatly, "someone paid you to run the blockade. Who?"

Two of the merchant's eyes widened in surprise, further convincing Xylan that he was right. "You're crazy," the unfazed merchant replied, "We've got a cargo in our boat that you can inspect if you need convincing."

"Any cargo would have undoubtedly been planted to project this charade. I grow tired of asking this, so it'll be the last time. Who paid you?" Xylan stated coldly.

"No-one paid us to do anything. We're just merchants." The defiant merchant continued to protest.

"I see," Xylan said as he motioned for the honour guard commander to step forward. "Commander?"

"Yes, sir?" Commander Otomo responded as he stepped to the Admiral's side.

Xylan gave a grim smile as he said, "Process them."

If it was possible, the skin of the merchants went even paler than it already was at the Admiral's words. As the honour guards stepped forward with outstretched spears, one of the merchants shouted, "Wait!"

Xylan held up a fist, signalling the guards to halt. "Yes?"

"We were paid by this earth kingdom soldier we met at the dock. He told us what to do and then left. We don't know anything else, I swear!"

"Captain," Xylan said as he turned to Vai, "inform Captain Tierce that I require the assistance of the _Admonitor_. A small boat has penetrated the blockade, we need to find it."

Vai had no idea how the Admiral has reached that conclusion but he had long since stopped questioning the Admiral's ability for quick insight. "On it sir, but what about these three," Vai asked as he gestured toward the cowering merchants.

"Place them in the detention centre." Xylan ordered with a frosty edge in his voice as he continued, "if this turns out to be a deception then they will suffer the consequences."

"I already told you everything we knew!" One of the merchants protested.

"Then you have nothing to fear," Xylan stated before turning back to Vai, "You have your orders, Captain."

Vai acknowledged with a quick salute before sprinting to the bridge. He had a feeling that this was an important step in securing victory for the Fire Nation, so there was no point in wasting time.

**Man how hard is it to get reviews for this CHAPTER! I have honestly lost all my drive to continue on this story, that's the whole point of reviews. A review makes me want to work on my story. But since I haven't got any since the last leap year. I guess no-one really cares about this story anymore...a shame.**


	20. Preparations

A**lirght well this is all I got for Chapter 20, so at the speed I'm going I guess I'll have to make another chapter before this story is finished. My interest in Avatar has been pretty much extinguished at the moment.I'll still be working on this story though. The pace will just be a hell of a lot slower. Pretty much a snail's pace, maybe even slower. So the next update will be in about a month or so. I slaved over this chapter, I even lost half of a night's sleep at one point so I hope you guys like this. I think its great of course, but then again every author thinks thier story is great.**

"General Qin," the Earth Kingdom scouts saluted as they approached the General. "We brought the Avatar as per your orders, sir."

"So I see," the General responded as he bowed to Aang. "I'm glad we were able to locate you, Avatar."

"I'm glad too," Aang replied as he continued to look around at the Earth Kingdom ships he still couldn't quite imagine how long it had taken to rebuild this many ships.

General Qin followed the Avatar's gaze, smiling he said, "Amazing isn't it? We've been secretly constructing these ships since our last navy was wiped out at the hands of Vice Admiral Xylan."

"You know him?" Aang asked the general as he looked away from the ships long enough to look at Qin. Aang was able to see that the general was easily six feet tall; his muscular body was layed out with an elaborate officer's uniform. It was green, with black shoulder pads that were engraved with what Aang guessed to be some sort of rank insignia.

"I've only heard of him," Qin responded as he led Aang on a tour of their operations. "It seems like you know him," Qin casually stated as the two walked side by side on a section of the wooden platforms.

"Well, he captured me twice and we met face to face while I was captured." Aang stated matter-of-factly as the two walked.

"What was your perception of him?" Qin asked with a growing sense of interest.

"Well he seemed calm, centred…he had a tactical insight that was beyond anything I've ever seen. He told me that he was mentored by Zhou, but he doesn't share any of Zhou's bad traits."

"I see…." Qin stopped walking and his eyes seemed distant, as if deep in thought.

"General?" Aang asked as he looked at Qin, "Are you alright?"

"As confident as I am that we can defeat the Fire Nation. I know that Vice Admiral Xylan is the only person who could possibly stand in our way." Qin said in response as he looked at his troops. "I fought against him once before, but I lost." Qin turned to look at Aang as he said, "I've trained for this moment my entire life, and the upcoming battle will serve to restore balance to the world." _And, we will finally see who the better commander is_, Qin added silently to himself. Because, although he would never admit it to anyone else, Qin did consider this personal. Shaking off the thought, Qin led the Avatar on a tour of their newly refitted warships.

Vice Admiral Xylan sat in the command chair of the _Leviathan _as the flagship accelerated through the water in search of the missing Earth Kingdom boat. The _Relentless_ was off the _Leviathan's_ starboard, the warship had to slow down to keep back with the _Leviathan_.

"Admiral?" A voice inquired off to Xylan's left.

Swivelling his chair in that direction Xylan asked, "Yes, Captain?"

"Captain Tierce reports that they have been unable to locate the Earth Kingdom ship, sir." Vai responded

"Tell Captain Tierce to double his search efforts. We're getting closer, Captain. It's only a matter of time." Xylan stated as he brought his yellow eyes to gaze back at the ocean.

"I see, sir." Vai said, though he couldn't help the doubts from forming in his mind.

"Do you doubt my abilities, Captain?" Xylan suddenly asked with a mildly icy tone as he continued to gaze out at the parting waters.

Vai's eyes widened in surprise and he wondered how the Admiral could've possibly known what he was thinking. Just as Vai was about to form an answer, Xylan spoke by way of explanation, "You haven't moved since I gave you your order, Captain. Clearly something is on your mind."

"Yes, sir. I just can't help but think that this will turn out to be nothing more than a wild goose chase."

"Understandably," Xylan said as he gave a slight smile before continuing, "But it looks like our search has paid off." Xylan pointed to a small boat in the distance that was roughly shaped in a giant U. "Prepare for battle, make it clear to Captain Tierce that I want them disabled, not destroyed."

"Yes, sir!" Vai saluted before informing Tierce of the Admiral's orders.

A few moments later the Leviathan opened fire with all of its forward batteries, sending six fireballs out toward the small ship. Not surprisingly, all of the shots missed their target, though a few were close. After the ranging shots, another barrage was fired from both the Leviathan and the Relentless, sending ten fireballs arcing toward the sky. Just before the fireballs found their target, the small boat accelerated away from the Fire Nation warships at full throttle. Turning to Captain Vai, Xylan ordered, "Show them how far our range extends, Captain."

"Yes, sir." Vai responded with eagerness.

"Distance to target is estimated at 600 meters. Adjust your catapults accordingly." The artillery coordinator shouted from the deck of the Leviathan. "Ready!" The coordinator called in a booming voice, "Fire!"

Instantly the catapults launched, sending another wave of fireballs out to their target. A lone fireball was sent incredibly close to the small boat, it ended up scraping the hull with enough force to push the small ship to the right.

"Admiral, the target is heading toward a small island bearing 26 mark 7." Vai said as he glanced at the small boat and compared their position to the maps that were spread across the bridge.

"So I see." Xylan said, "Order the _Relentless_ to go around the island, we will cut off any possible escape route." As Vai acknowledged the order, Xylan looked at the island and wondered what they were trying to do.

Meanwhile the _Relentless_ pulled out of sight of the Earth Kingdom boat before accelerating to full throttle. As the warship raced around the island the _Leviathan_ continued its pursuit, slowly herding the unsuspecting boat into Xylan's trap.

Aang slowly trudged back into camp, he had left Qin's base an hour ago and he was glad that there was a chance for him to have support for his final battle with the firelord. As soon as he made it back to camp he fell to the ground as Katara tackled him to the ground in a bone-crushing hug. "What's that for?" Aang rasped as Katara squeezed him tightly.

"You were gone when I woke up, I thought something happened!" Katara said, her voice slightly muffled against Aang's chest.

"Well in a way something did happen." Aang said.

"What happened?" Sokka asked as he, Toph, and Zuko came close to the two.

"Well, these earthbender scouts came into our campsite and took me to this island not far from here. It turns out that the Earth Kingdom has rebuilt their entire navy and made improvements to boot."

"How many ships, do they have?" Zuko asked

Aang had to think back to the cavern before he replied, "There were about 500 ships."

Zuko gave a slight shake of his head in disappointment before he said, "That's not enough. The Fire Navy has a total of 800 ships and with a man like Xylan leading them…they don't have a chance of being able to win."

"They don't have to win," Sokka said as his tactical mind started giving him ideas, "All they have to do is distract the home fleet long enough for Aang to quietly infiltrate the Fire Lord's Palace and fulfill his destiny."

"That might work," Zuko slowly said, "as long as they don't fully engage the Fire Navy."

"What about us?" Toph suddenly asked, "I don't know about the rest of you but I'm not a big fan of ship to ship fights."

"We won't be in the actual fight," Sokka said matter-of-factly. "Our group, along with some other soldiers, will be loaded onto small boats. That way the Fire Nation thinks that we were caught just before we invaded their homeland."

"That's actually a good plan," Zuko said with reluctant admiration.

"Well, I try," Sokka said with a small degree of modesty.

The _Leviathan_ continued its pursuit of the escaping boat, the super-carrier was keeping a steady pace toward its target. Due to its massive bulk, however, its top speed was barley enough to keep the small ship in sight. The Leviathan's batteries continued their merciless assault on the Earth Kingdom vessel. The batteries were deliberately concentrated on the enemy's port flank, forcing the small ship on a trajectory heading toward the _Relentless_.

"Distance to target?" Captain Tierce inquired as he stepped toward his navigation officer on the bridge of the Relentless.

"Distance is estimated at 403.4 metres, sir." The officer reported without looking up from his console.

"Excellent. Engine status?"

"Running as hot as they can safely go sir," The same officer responded.

Looking away from his officers, Tierce glanced over at the observation window. Just coming into view from the far side of the island was their target, the small Earth Kingdom ship. Motioning for Urai to come to his side, Tierce ordered, "Inform all troops to prepare for boarding action." Urai gave a short nod in acknowledgement before he headed to the barracks.

The _Relentless_ continued accelerating toward its target, furious waves formed in its wake as the battleship accelerated above the red-line. "Captain, engines are running 10 beyond the safety line. Emergency cooling will be needed in four minutes."

"Acknowledged," Tierce replied as he gripped the edge of his softly padded chair. Four minutes would be cutting it close for an interception of their target, but it was the only chance they would have if the strike team was to quickly secure the ship.

As soon as the _Relentless _pulled alongside the target, the Relentless' entire garrison of troops, consisting of fifty fire benders, quickly descended from the towering warship to land on the small ship,. The show of numbers was enough for the enemy ships' ten occupants to quickly surrender. Having secured the ship, the Fire Nation troops remained on board to prepare for Vice Admiral Xylan's arrival.

They didn't have to wait long. Three minutes went by before the _Leviathan_ stopped in front of the Earth Kingdom vessel. Hydraulic pumps kicked steam into the air as they pushed the ship's horn-shaped bow away from the hull, to act as a ramp. As the mist around the ramp cleared, Xylan and four of his honour guards could be seen walking down to the prisoners. Xylan's orange and gold coloured trimmed armour was a close match to the elaborate gold coloured armour of his honour guard escort.

Two of Xylan's honour guards broke their protective box as they moved to stand guard by the ramp. Xylan continued striding toward the prisoners. One of the Earth Kingdom soldiers stepped forward as Xylan stepped past him, "You have no right to detain us!" Xyaln spun around to face the soldiers as he said, "Oh but I do. You were caught for running past a Fire Nation blockade and trespassing in our territory." Xylan spoke with a voice so malicious that several of the prisoners cringed back in fear. "As such," Xylan continued, "you are now prisoners of war. Commander?" Xylan asked, knowing that Otomo was one of the honour guards at his side.

Stepping forward to the Admiral's left Otomo asked, "Yes, sir?"

"Instruct your men to give the prisoners a _thorough_ interrogation." Xylan said coldly as he put an emphasis on the word thorough. "Then have your men search the entire ship. Any information is to be directly reported to me. Is that clear?"

"Completely, Admiral. We won't disappoint you."

"I don't doubt that commander. Dismissed."

"Yes, sir." Otomo saluted as Xylan headed back toward the _Leviathan_. Turning back to his squad, Otomo barked, "You heard the Admiral. Move the prisoners to the detention area, begin the interrogations immediately. Tell the rest of the squad to come out and search this ship, section by section."

His men acknowledged the order with a shout before running to their appointed tasks.

"Sir!" Otomo barked before snapping to attention inside Xylan's dimly illuminated quarters. It had been four hours since the _Relentless_ had captured the Earth Kingdom ship and Otomo had important news for the Admiral.

"Your report, Captain?" Xylan asked as he continued to read from Air Nomad texts. Xylan had rows upon rows of texts from the other three nations stacked on shelves in his quarters. Now that there were only two nations left who could still be a threat to the Fire Nation, Xylan was studying their cultures intently. His studies of the Air Nomad texts were to be used so that he could gain information about the Avatar. As far as Xylan was concerned there was only one thing that he needed to defeat his enemies in battle: information. Information about a nation's culture was more valuable to Xylan than a battalion of soldiers.

"I regret to inform you, Admiral, that our search of their vessel was inconclusive."

"Understandable," Xylan said as he turned to face Otomo, "I would be surprised if they were careless enough to leave something behind on their ship."

"Yes, sir." Otomo said before continuing, "Our interrogation of the prisoners, however, has revealed some…disturbing news."

"How disturbing?"

"Well sir. It appears that the enemy has rebuilt their entire navy." Otomo said as he half-prepared himself for an outburst of rage. Or, at the very least, a shocking expression to cross the Admiral's face. To Otomo's surprise, however, the exact opposite happened.

Xylan gave a tiny smile as he muttered, "Very resourceful."

"Admiral?"

"It would appear, commander, that I have underestimated our Earth Kingdom enemies. Do you know where this secret shipyard is located?"

A look of surprise flickered across Otomo's face as he wondered how the Admiral had been able to know that. His surprise quickly faded when he remembered that Xylan had a unique sense of intuition. "No, sir. The prisoner who gave us this information told us that he had no idea where it was located. And after an extremely thorough interrogation, I would have to agree."

"I see. But no matter, there is only one thing that the Earth Kingdom Navy will do now.' Xylan said before he looked at Otomo and instructed, "Go to the bridge and tell Captain Vai I want the rest of the fleet to break off their blockade and rendezvous with us at the Fire Nation."

"Yes, sir. Right, away." Otomo made a quick salute before he marched out of Xylan's quarters and toward the bridge.

Aang breathed out a heavy sigh as he layed down in his tent, his body was exhausted after today's events and he was glad that he could just go to sleep and relax. Soon after he thought this, Aang drifted off into a deep sleep…

"I see you failed to take my advice." Vontor sadly stated. Aang looked around in surprise, but he soon realized that he was in the Spirit World. Avatar Vontor had brought his face up just enough to gaze at Aang with sad eyes.

"But I made her a promise that I would control my feelings."

"And you think that will solve this!" Vontor roared, his blue eyes flashing with anger.

"I tried to let her go but I can't do it."

"You can't just turn off your feelings, Aang. This promise won't be something you can uphold."

"You're right I can't turn off my feelings. So I can't let her go and I can't just pretend my feelings won't interfere. So what do you want from me!" Aang shouted as he cried out in desperation for a solution.

"You know what you need to do." Vontor stated with a sad voice as he already knew what Aang's response would be.

"I. Can't." Aang stated slowly

"Then you have failed your training. If you choose this course of action, I guarantee you will lose control."

"You're wrong." Aang stated, though he didn't feel nearly as confident as he sounded.

"I hope so Aang. For your sake." Vontor's last statement echoed in his place as his form disappeared before Aang's eyes.

The rest of Aang's sleep was plagued by Vontor's words….

The next morning, Aang woke up sweating. His mind was racing as the conversation with Vontor continued to play in his mind. Waking up with a groan, Aang pushed himself out of bed, General Qin would be mobilizing his forces by now and Aang wasn't going to miss the most important day of his life.

Five hundred battleships accelerated out of the plateau; despite their heavy weight the ships were able to attain a top speed equivalent to a small patrol boat. General Qin straightened to his full height as he watched crewers scrambling to and fro in an attempt to load the trebuchets, seal pressure doors, and double check the status of every system on the ship. With the most important battle in this century long war about to be brought to a conclusion they couldn't afford to take anything for granted.

Vice Admiral Xylan sat on the command chair of the _Leviathan_ something told him that this battle would be a day long remembered. Xylan knew that victory meant far more than just the destruction of the Avatar, it would also mean the destruction of the Royal Family. With that accomplished there was nothing that could stop Vice Admiral Xylan from conquering the world, he smiled at the thought. This would be a glorious day indeed


	21. The Final Battle

**Apologies for the long wait, but I've been busy with other things. **

**This story has one more cahpter to go before its complete. I know I know, I said that last time, but I swear that there will only be _one _more**

**A3rrow: I proabably wouldn't have even done this chapter at all if you hadn't submitted so many reviews. I was glad to know that you enjoyied the last chapters as much as I liked writing them.**

* * *

Vice Admiral Xylan gazed down at his crew from the observation port. Xylan spoke into the _Leviathan's_ intercom, his magnified voice loud enough for the majority of the fleet to hear him. "Warriors! We face adversity, a band of brothers. But we will never know defeat as long as we stand together. The other nations think they can defeat us. After 100 years of combat, conquest, and glory; the remaining think they can resist. When in fact, they are only delaying the inevitable! When we are victorious here we will quickly bring the remaining territories in line, securing the first World Empire!" Xylan slowly annunciated his last five words, speaking with a truth so inspiring that the entire fleet seemed to erupt in cheers and shouts of approval.

* * *

From the deck of the _Integrity_ General Qin walked down the bow of his flagship, he proceeded down the middle row dividing the ship's entire compliment of troops and crewers. They all stood at attention, their eyes staring straight ahead as Qin continued to walk down the middle line. He slowed his pace as he started talking with a voice that was loud enough to echo across the ocean, "Soldiers! Today we fight the enemy at the heart of their territory. You may think that they have the home-field advantage, and you would be right. But while the Fire Nation has that advantage, we have more than they could ever grasp. Courage! Fortitude! And something the Fire Nation has lost for more than a century, _Honour_!" Qin waited while the loud cheers subsided amongst his troops before continuing, "So I say let them have the home-field advantage, we all know they need it, for they have little else to fight with!"

Every single person cheered as loud as their vocal chords would permit; Qin's charismatic nature was enough to inspire everyone. The general continued to move up and down the lane chanting three words that spoke volumes about his confidence; he looked at everyone as he passed them, chanting, "We will triumph! We will triumph!"

The others joined in almost instantly; they shouted to a point where they hoped the Fire Nation would be able to hear their cries for justice as the fleet continued to accelerate toward the final battle.

Qin waited until the fleet was more than five kilometres away before quieting the others down and ordering them to man their battle stations. He watched from the bridge as the distant fire nation fleet came closer with every passing minute. The sound of part water was barley enough to calm his nerves. Pre-mission jitters were nothing new to Qin but no matter how many battles he fought, the sensation always threatened to throw him over the edge. Only strict military discipline allowed him to stay the course. He couldn't afford to make a mistake, not in this battle.

* * *

A grim smile touched Xylan's lips as he watched the Earth Kingdom fleet approach. "Order all ships to condition four. I want every ship and soldier ready for combat within the next five minutes." Xylan ordered Captain Vai.

"At your command Admiral," Vai spoke from the Admiral's side. He had experienced doubts about the Earth Kingdom's ability to mount an assault but, once again, the Admiral had proven himself correct. Victory had never looked so close.

* * *

Aang stood at the bow of the _Integrity_, waiting as he was literally accelerated toward his destiny. Whereas Aang felt dread leading up to the Day of Black Sun, this time he felt nothing but a calm, serene feeling. He had taken great pains to suppress his Avatar Spirit, though it was a still a prime concern within his mind. He knew he had been unable to let Katara go, but he also knew that he wouldn't be able to uphold the promise he made to her either. The feelings were enough to awake a sense of dread within his heart.

Aang had buried the feeling, knowing that he needed to be calm and collective to succeed in his destiny. Aang looked below to see the Earth Kingdom's boarding craft enter the water; soldiers entered the boats with the intention of creating a distraction. They knew that his had to look as if it were a full-scale assault, when in fact it was just a feint to lure the other Fire Nation ships into combat.

A deep breath escaped Aang's lungs as he took out his glider and perched himself like a bird atop the ship's bow. His eyes almost flashed with anger when he saw the distant outline of the _Leviathan_, Vice Admiral Xylan's flagship. Aang shook the feeling off to watch Sokka, Katara, Zuko, and Toph enter the boarding craft off the _Integrity's _starboard side.

The glider unfolded with a twirl from Aang's wrist. He jumped toward the waiting sea below, a small splash being the only sound of his entry. He used water bending to create a bubble of oxygen around his body, while he simultaneously propelled himself through the water like a torpedo. The bottom hull of the _Leviathan_ grew closer and closer to the point where Aang could have touched the ship with his hand.

The high turbidity of the sea forced Aang to squint his eyes in order to concentrate on what was ahead of him. He barely had time to react when he saw the submerged Gates of Azulon, the iron chains forced Aang to dive deeper if he were to pass.

Having passed the gateway, Aang continued toward the palace. But rather than continuing going straight ahead toward the harbour, Aang turned right. This attack was based on stealth, he would have to remain undetected until he reached Ozai. There could be no mistakes.

* * *

"Distance?" Xylan asked his navigation officer from his command chair on the bridge. He had no doubt that the Earth Kingdom ships were close to entering weapon's range.

"Closing at 700 metres Admiral," the officer responded, "We will be in weapon's range in less than a minute."

"Apprise our artillery officers Lieutenant."

"Yes Admiral."

"How close?" Qin demanded, a feeling of impatience starting to set in.

"Close enough to fire General," the _Integrity's _navigation officer responded with a grin.

"Then let's show the Fire Nation our upgraded weapons." Qin said as he marched to the bow of the ship. He looked at the crewers below and shouted, "We are in weapon's range! Fire!" The General shouted out his last word as he pointed toward the Fire Nation fleet.

The grinding of machinery could be heard as the counter-weights mounted onto the trebuchets forced the machines down. Enormous stone blocks filled the skies as they shot into the air before falling toward the unsuspecting enemy fleet.

"Incoming fire," was all Xylan heard as he saw the stone blocks falling toward the fleet.

"Launch the counter-batteries." Xylan ordered calmly, despite the fact that a stone block looked to be on a direct course for the _Leviathan_.

Half of the _Leviathan's_ catapults launched fire balls in response to the threat, as did the rest of the fleet. Only a third of the enemy fire was stopped by the fleet's response, the stone blocks were converted into dust when the fire balls made contact. The rest of the volley impacted against Fire Nation ships. One stone block wasn't enough to puncture the armour plating of a Fire Nation battleship, but it was enough to weaken the metal.

The _Merciless_ was unfortunate enough to be bombarded by several stone blocks; the hardened earth struck the bow of the ship, gutting it from stem to stern. The battleship lurched out of control, ramming full force into a nearby friendly ship. Both battleships were disabled by the collision, their hulls broken to the point where a major water leak was enough to force the crew to abandon ship.

Xylan watched the destruction with a cold fire burning inside him, he looked at Captain Vai and said, "Order the rear ships to encircle the Earth Kingdom ships while we lay down cover fire."

"As you command Admiral," Vai responded. He turned to the COM officer and said, "Order all rear ships to encircle the enemy fleet." When the COM officer nodded in acknowledgement, Vai turned to Xylan and asked, "Shall I give the order to return fire Admiral?"

"Not yet Captain," Xylan said as he turned to the navigation officer, "Get us closer Lieutenant."

"Aye sir." The _Leviathan_ moved forward, its massive bulk soon followed by the other ships in the fleet. "650 metres………….600…………..550," The officer rattled of their position as the enemy ships appeared closer and closer.

"Admiral?" Vai questioned nervously, knowing that they were more than close enough to attain a direct hit.

"Not yet," Xylan said as he held up his hand. He looked at the navigation officer and asked, "Distance?"

"450 metres," the officer replied.

"All stop. Launch the catapults!"

Xylan's order was quickly followed by the launch of all the _Leviathan's_ batteries. The fireballs didn't have very far to go before impacting onto the decks of several enemy ships. Several trebuchets were ruined by the fiery projectiles when they punched right through the only unarmoured section of the Earth Kingdom ships. The artillery operators on the bow of several ships were either thrown off into the murky water below, or they were killed when the fire balls impacted against the hull.

A control circuit must have been severed on one of the Earth Kingdom ships because it collided with its respective assault boats below, killing the soldiers inside. The ship kept gathering speed until it collided with a Fire Nation battleship, crushing the armoured bow and leaving a massive breach in its place.

A salvo from both fleets followed Xylan's strike, stones and fire balls filled the skies as they headed toward their designated targets. The majority of the stones were stopped by fire balls though there were still enough left to disable a few more battleships. The hardened earth shredded through metal plating, tearing through several decks before coming to a stop. Fire balls collided against stone armour, with only enough force to dent the armour plating.

* * *

General Qin and several other bridge officers were thrown to the floor when a volley of fireballs impacted against the _Integrity's_ port side. Qin quickly pushed himself to his feet and shouted to his bridge officers, "Relay signals to all ships, tell them to concentrate their fire on the enemy's left flank."

"Understood General," was all Qin heard as he looked out to of the observation windows to see volley after volley fire from Xylan's fleet. Another of Qin's ships was disabled by a barrage of enemy fire. The projectiles all impacted against the same spot until the armoured hull gave way with an ear-splitting crack.

Qin was about to look away from the destruction when he saw that another volley was heading toward his fleet. He prepared for the worst but was surprised to see the fire balls collide with the water. _What are you up to Xylan_, Qin thought with a growing sense of apprehension as he wondered how Xylan's artillery crewers could possibly have missed.

Realization struck him instantly; he was targeting the assault boats.

"Tell the fleet to protect the assault boats, they're under attack!" Qin shouted to no-one in particular as he continued to watch the unfolding battle.

"Message relayed," the COM officer responded.

The Earth Kingdom fleet turned ninety degrees to port, their armoured hulls providing the only means of protection for the assault boats below.

* * *

It was just the advantage Xylan had been waiting for.

The enemy fleet was manoeuvring to protect their boarding craft, giving Xylan's fleet a clear shot at their starboard hull. The Admiral didn't need to give the order to switch targets, his artillery creweres were already firing at the enemy's now exposed flank.

"What's the status of the Sky Bombers?" Xylan asked, he was eager to bring this battle to a close.

"Based on their last report, they should be here momentarily Admiral."

"Excellent, tell our crewers to concentrate their fire on the right flank."

"Yes Admiral."

* * *

"New contacts detected!" Qin's COM officer shouted, "Incoming Sky Bombers!"

A feeling of complete fear washed over the General as he looked outside to see the enormous outline of the airborne behemoths. "Spirits help us," Qin whispered.

* * *

Aang looked at the distant outline of the Fire Nation palace, he was now flying just inside the clouds. So far his stealthy approach had been successful but Aang knew that it would need to come to an end sooner or later.

He dove below the cloud cover, watching as the environment rushed past in his peripheral vision. All of his attention was focused on the staircase leading up to the palace as he dove like a hawk for his objective. Aang only prevented himself from slamming full speed into the metal ground with a well timed air-blast. Aang half-expected to be bombarded with fire blasts the second his feet made contact with the ground, but no such opposition came.

Aang folded his glider back into a staff as he made his way into the palace. The wide hallways made him wary of an ambush as he proceeded to jog toward the Fire Lord's war room. Despite Aang's uneasiness he was able to make it all the way to the palace's central chamber without seeing anyone. The deserted palace brought back memories from the Day of Black Sun, but he pushed the thoughts aside when he realized that Ozai might have sent soldiers toward the harbour; in order to prevent an assault that was never going to happen.

A few more steps was all it took for Aang to gaze around a corner and see two of the Fire Nation's royal guards. They were standing to either side of a red curtain that was decorated with the Fire Nation emblem, making it clear that the Fire Lord was inside.

Aang knew that he would have to utilize a stealthy approach until he moved inside the war room. His mind raced as he thought about how to take the guards out, he knew that the hallway leading toward the war room was a one-way access point; something that gave the royal guards a tactical advantage.

He smiled when he had a plan.

Aang used his air bending to speed through the hallway; the sheer velocity put him in front of the two guards before they even knew what was happening. The guards didn't even have time to enter a combat stance before Aang jumped up and slammed both of their armoured helmets together, knocking the two out cold.

Not being one to waste time, Aang walked into the war room, the fire just outside of the Fire Lord's throne burning as brightly as ever. An entire row of royal guards stood by Ozai, who was drinking from a cup. That all changed when Aang issued a challenge, "Ozai!"

That single word caused all of the guards to snap their spears to attention, and it was enough for Ozai to set his cup down; a grim smile settled on his face. "Avatar, you're full of surprises."

As if that were a signal, the guards started marching towards Aang. A powerful shockwave of air, aimed specifically for the advancing guards, knocked them off their feet and into the wall with enough force to render them all unconscious.

Ozai smiled at the destruction as he stood up and moved toward Aang. He parted the curtain of fire with his hands, taking on a combat stance as he locked eyes with Aang and said, "This should be interesting."

* * *

General Qin grunted in pain when his head slammed against a bridge console, the _Integrity_ was taking a serious beating and Qin knew it was only a matter of time before—

The ship seemed to shake again as an officer looked at Qin and shouted, "Hull breach on deck five, blast doors are holding!"

The COM officer turned to Qin and said, "Crewers are reporting that our starboard armour is down to twenty percent, we can't take much more of this."

_There's always another way_, Qin thought desperately as he tried to find a way to bring victory from the chaos. A bitter feeling rose up inside him when he realized that there was no way they would be able to pull victory from this mess. _But then again_, Qin thought as he looked at the approaching Sky Bombers, _perhaps there is._

"Tell all ships to break off their attack on the enemy fleet, they are to focus their fire on the Sky Bombers. I want them out of the sky." Qin barked out his order, a plan was already forming in his mind.

"Understood General," came the hesitant reply from the COM officer.

The artillery operators adjusted the counter-weights on the trebuchets before firing at the Sky Bombers. The trebuchets released their payloads toward the approaching aircraft, sending stone blocks hurling for the aircraft's metal plating. By the time the stone blocks reached the Sky Bombers, they had picked up enough speed to rip through the armoured hull.

A small grin was plastered onto Qin' face as he watched the closest two airborne bombers plummet into a Fire Nation battleship below. A small breach was in the Fire Nation's right flank now, giving Qin the chance he'd been hoping for. "Signal the fleet, I want every ship to widen that gap and head to the Fire Nation."

"But General, the plan was to—"

"I know what the plan was Ensign," Qin interrupted harshly, "But this is the only way we will be able to achieve victory. Relay the orders."

"Yes General."

Artillery fire commenced almost immediately, all of the Earth Kingdom's firepower was divided between two enemy battleships. The stone blocks tore through enough of the armour plating to make it looks as though the ships had been caught up in a hurricane. The disabled ships had widened the gap to the point where Qin was confident that the fleet would be able to squeeze through. He ordered the _Integrity_ to full power, watching as the flagship moved toward the Fire Nation capital.

The other fleet commanders followed the _Integrity_ as it headed for the heart of enemy territory, fireball projectiles chasing them all the way. The _Integrity's_ hull collided with the wreckage of a Fire Nation battleship at full speed. It created just enough space to allow the _Integrity_, and the rest of the fleet, to pass. The only obstacle remaining was the brightly burning Gates of Azulon. The chain-linked iron fence barricaded the entrance to Fire Nation territory, Qin was about to take it down.

"Tell our crewers to breach those gates. I want it done before the last ship breaches the enemy's lines!"

"Yes General, but I should let you know that we are running low on ammunition."

"I don't care if they pull the stones right off our hull. I want those gates breached!"

Volley after volley of hardened earth collided with the iron gateway, leaving loud cracks to be heard throughout the bay. It was obvious that the barricade was weakening; large dents could be seen forming in the centre of the fence. Qin saw that the last ship was moving to attack the gateway, he shook his head and turned to the COM officer, "Tell our ships to re-engage—"

"General, the wall's been breached!"

Qin turned to see that the Ensign was correct, the iron barrier had been breached right in the centre. A large gap had formed as a result and it looked more than big enough for Qin's fleet to scrape through.

It didn't take long for the fleet to arrive at the waiting Fire Nation shores, assault boats released their troop compliment while more troops abandoned the battleships. Fire Nation troops and Earth Kingdom soldiers met in a brutal brawl.

Katara, Zuko, Sokka, and Toph were among the first to leave their respective assault boats. Zuko and Toph helped reinforce the left flank while Sokka drew his sword and headed for the right. Katara stood where she was, there was an internal struggle raging within her. She debated whether she should help her brother or go and help Aang. She knew that Ozai was Aang's destiny but she couldn't bear to see him injured.

With that thought in mind she sprinted straight ahead, fiercely engaging any enemy forces in her path as she raced toward Aang.

This final battle would test everyone's skills. Qin knew that his soldiers trusted him enough that they would follow him anywhere. He just hoped he was worthy of that trust.

* * *

Vice Admiral Xylan almost slammed his hand on the arm of his command chair when he noticed that the Earth Kingdom fleet had breached the Gates of Azulon. He regained his composure and was about to order the fleet to a new heading when Captain Vai shouted, "Lay in a pursuit course for the enemy fleet."

"Belay that order," Xylan spoke with an icy tone that stopped the other officers cold.

"Admiral?" Vai spoke with confusion at the sudden reprimanding. He was aware that he had breached military protocol by giving orders on the Admiral's flagship, but the Admiral's tone gave the slightest hint that he had no intention of following the Earth Kingdom ships. "Are we not going to follow?"

"Correct Captain, we are not." Xylan said as he realized that he had underestimated General Qin. But although he had failed in this battle, he could use this to his advantage and initiate the military takeover he'd been planning for years. "For one hundred years we have fought and died in the name of conquest. We have fought for a government that is corrupt and a leader that is weak. The Fire Lord is ruthless but he has no concept of leadership, others do. In accordance with Directive 01, I am taking command of the military; every soldier is under my command. If you do not agree with this, speak now."

Xylan swept his gold eyes around the bridge, daring anyone to question his authority. "Admiral?" Captain Vai said as he stepped to his side.

"Yes Captain," Xylan locked eyes with Vai, a hidden menace lingering in his words.

"I believe I speak for the others Admiral, when I say that it would be an honour to serve under your command."

A small grin touched Xylan's lips as he nodded his appreciation to Captain Vai.

* * *

Aang dodged another fire blast from Ozai, his body spinning to avoid getting burned. This battle had been raging for what felt like hours, adrenaline seemed as though it couldn't provide the energy necessary for his fatigued limbs. Another series of incoming fire balls forced Aang to go on the defensive again. He pushed off of the metal floor with his feet, using air-bending to keep his body parallel to the floor for a handful of seconds. The timeframe was just long enough for the two fire blasts to miss Aang.

A portion of Aang's mind told him that Ozai had launched _three_ fire blasts, the knowledge was quickly followed by a searing pain lancing across his right side. Aang fell to his knees, pain filling every portion of his conscious mind as he felt himself slowly losing consciousness.

Ozai lowered his guard as he stepped toward his helpless victim, "So, it comes to this. I would have hoped that all the time you spent training might have given you more skills. It's a shame you weren't killed along with the others of your kin, I wouldn't have had to wait this long to end your existence."

Aang gritted his teeth at Ozai's mocking words, rage was beginning to drown out the sense of pain. He'd never felt so angry in his life, fire seemed to be a cold substitute for the raging inferno that was building within Aang. His perceptions felt as though they were being taken over by others, it was something Aang had long understood as the effect of the Avatar State.

_Oh no_, Aang thought, _what have I done_.

_Exactly what I told you would happen_. A voice, that Aang recognized as Vontor's, responded.

_Tell me how to stop it_, Aang almost screamed inside his mind as he was vaguely aware of himself unleashing destruction.

_You can't_, was the fearful reply.

A part of Aang sensed his Avatar Spirit unleash a concentrated funnel of fire out from his palm toward the Fire Lord. Ozai was cut completely off guard by the unexpected offensive, he was killed almost instantly. A small feeling of relief washed over Aang now that the Fire Lord was dead, but it wasn't enough to soothe his wild, malicious Avatar Spirit. So much energy was pouring out of Aang that the very ground seemed to warp and ripple.

_I won't kill anyone else_, Aang said in defiance though he wasn't quite sure who he was even speaking to. _You must stop!_

Aang felt his Spirit subside after his words. Though it wasn't the normal, gradual recession of his Avatar Spirit, this time it was abrupt. Aang felt himself falling toward ground, his body fell fifty metres before he collided with the metal floor. His visual perception started feeling hazy, so much so that he wasn't sure if the voice he heard was real or not.

"Aang! Aang!" It sounded like Katara, but part of Aang knew that she should still be on an assault boat.

He felt a pair of arms wrap him in a soothing embrace, his vision cleared enough where he could see Katara kneeling next to him. Aang still felt as weak as he usually did after going in and out of the Avatar State, that was cause for grave concern. Normally the feeling of weakness only lasted for a few seconds but it seemed to be dragging on. The only logical conclusion Aang could reach was that he was about to die.

Holding on to his last conscious minute, Aang took a weak old of Katara's arm and said, "Katara…..tell the others…..that I did it."

Aang's hazy perceptions of the Fire Lord's palace morphed to one of complete darkness….

* * *

**This chapter was really forced, I still don't have much interest in Avatar but I felt that I should probably finish what I started. After two months of neglect I imagine that you agree.**

**I'll have the next chapter up fairly soon. I just hope I can write it better than this one. No matter how many changes I made, this chapter just seemed to suck.**

**If any of you have played Half-Life 2, you might be interested in checking out my stories. I'm particularily proud of Urban Warfare, go to my profile and check it out if you're interested!**


	22. Reveille

**The last chapter of First Strike, something I wanted to include in the last chapter but I thought that a slight cliff-hanger would be better.**

* * *

Aang cracked his eyes open with a groan, he blinked rapidly to clear his blurry vision. When the haziness parted, he found himself inside some kind of tent. It was surprisingly large, filled with several other wounded soldiers from the battle.

Not being one for seeing injuries, Aang pushed himself out of the small stretcher he was laying in and made his way out of the tent. He was surprised to find that it was dark outside, bright stars were a sharp contrast to the pitch black sky. Tearing his gaze away from the sky, Aang looked around at his new surroundings.

It didn't take him long to realize that the camp was stationed close to a cliff, a quick look over the grassy edge made it clear why. What was left of General Qin's fleet was parked below, the ships looked as though they would need a month of repairs before they could go anywhere.

Aang winced at the thought of how many soldiers had given their lives for this victory. After a moment he composed himself and wandered aimlessly around camp, he really had no specific destination in mind. The smell of salty water and the light breeze from costal winds was enough to convince his pessimistic mind that he was, in fact, not dead. That thought alone brought enough happiness to make the pain brought on by his wounds tolerable.

Aang's thoughts drifted to Katara, he had to find her.

His search finally ended when he spotted her standing on a small hill. Aang gave a small grin as he gently limped towards her, a dim amount of pain still present in his mind. Aang's grin faded when he came close enough to her to hear that she was crying.

"You have to get better Aang. The world needs you and so do I."

"I need you too," Aang said when he was close enough to her.

Katara's eyes seemed to light with an inner fire as she turned around and raced toward Aang, hugging him fiercely as though she were afraid he wasn't real. Aang returned her affections as he looked back into the sky.

The stars had never looked so bright.

* * *

"How did your appointment go Captain?" Vice Admiral Xylan questioned Vai when he stepped beside him on the command tower of the _Leviathan_. The Captain had been summoned by Zuko, the newly declared Fire Lord.

"It was flawless, Admiral. He believed every word of it." Vai said. He had been forced to come up with a story as to how Xylan had been killed. Vai had informed Zuko that he had personally killed Xylan when he had tried to initiate a military overthrow. That was enough to ease Zuko's suspicion about a rebellion, that was the easy part. Vai couldn't help but wonder as to how they could win this war now.

"We haven't lost Captain," Xylan said suddenly, interrupting Vai's thoughts. "We may have lost the last battle. But the war," Xylan smiled as he looked out to sea, "the war has just begun."

* * *

**I am planning on a sequel to this story (if that isn't already obvious). It will be called _Revenant of the Past._ So keep an eye out for that.**

**Unfortunatley, I'm more focused on writing Half-Life fics at the moment. I plan on finishing Empire Beneficiary beofre I do anythig else.**

**Plus I'll be going through Basic Training with the Canadian Reserves on July 7th so I'm not sure as to when I'll get around to writing the sequel. **

**Thanks to all the people that stuck with me through this, your support was what kept me going. It's been hard for me to finish this, but I couldn't leave you guys hanging. Hope you enjoyed it!**


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